Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of participants according to group allocation
| Acupuncture 12 sessions n = 6 | Acupuncture 24 sessions n = 6 | Counseling 12 sessions n = 6 | Counseling 24 sessions n = 6 | Usual GP care n = 16 | Total n = 40 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean BDI score (SD) | 44.17 (11.3) | 38 (12.29) | 43.16 (6.43) | 39 (10.6) | 37.18 (8.90) | 39.53 (9.7) |
| Mean (SD) age in years | 39.33 (14.56) | 45.67 (16.8) | 36.83 (13.74) | 44.17 (22.92) | 37.63 (12.46) | 41 |
| Experienced three episodes or more | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 24 |
| Mean (SD) age in years of first depression episode | 24.83 (17.00) | 29.5 (15.15) | 16.25 (1.89) | 27.2 (27.56) | 21.15 (11.17) | 23.4 (15.3) (n = 34) |
| No. of females | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 34 |
| Other health problem(s) | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 33 |
| Five or more other health problems | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 17 |
| Medication for depression (4 weeks) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 28 |
| Previously used counseling | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 29 |
| Previously used acupuncture | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Prefer acupuncture | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 25 |
| Prefer counseling | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Prefer usual care | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Any of the above | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| Mean (SD) expectation will help depression (1 = least help, 7 = most help) | ||||||
| Acupuncture | 6.17 (1.33) | 5.2 (1.30) | 4.8 (1.64) | 4.83 (1.33) | 4.8 (1.15) | 5.1 (1.3) (n = 37) |
| P‐value = 0.272 | ||||||
| Counseling | 4.33 (1.76) | 4.17 (1.17) | 5.00 (1.22) | 4.00 (1.79) | 4.73 (.88) | 4.5 (1.3) (n = 38) |
| P‐value = 0.634 | ||||||
| Usual care | 4.17 (2.71) | 4.83 (1.47) | 3.67 (1.63) | 4.00 (1.41) | 3.27 (1.79) | 3.8 (1.8) (n = 39) |
| P‐value = 0.436 | ||||||