Table 1.
Primary studies included in the review
| First author and year | Interventions | Results |
|---|---|---|
| Luo et al. 1985 (China) | Electro acupuncture vs. Amitriptyline | Both groups significantly improved, no significant difference between them |
| Luo et al. 1988 (China) | Electro acupuncture vs. Amitriptyline | No significant difference between EA and Amitriptyline on primary outcome measure. Biochemical markers were different for intervention and control |
| Xiujuan et al. 1994 (China) | Combined electro acupuncture and manual point stimulation—four TCM patterns vs. Amitriptyline | Both groups significantly improved, no significant difference between them except for ‘anxiety somatization’ which was significantly better in the acupuncture group |
| Luo et al. 1998 (China) | Two study phases. Phase 1: Electro acupuncture plus placebo medication; amitriptyline; electro acupuncture plus amitriptyline. Phase 2: two groups, EA plus placebo or amitriptyline (Only phase 1 was reported in Smith and Hay Cochrane review, phase 2 appears to be a duplicate of Luo 1988) | Phase 1 – no significant difference between groups. Phase 2 – no significant differences between groups on primary outcome measure but EA had less side effects. Factor analysis showed EA better for anxiety somatization, cognitive disturbance and treatment of reactive depression than amitriptyline. Biochemical study showed plasma nor epinephrine changed greatly after EA treatment. |
| Allen et al. 1998 (USA) | Manualized specific acupuncture (SPEC) vs. nonspecific active acupuncture comparison (NSPEC) vs. wait list | SPEC significantly better than NSPEC but not significantly better than wait list control |
| Roschke et al. 2000 (Germany) | Standardized whole body acupuncture plus Mianserin vs. placebo acupuncture plus Mianserin vs. Mianserin | Patients receiving both types of acupuncture improved slightly more than those receiving Mianserin only |
| Han et al. 2002 (China) | Electro acupuncture vs. Maprotiline | Both groups significantly improved, no significant difference between them |
| Manber et al. 2004 (USA) | Manualized specific acupuncture (SPEC) vs. nonspecific active acupuncture comparison (NSPEC) vs. Massage | SPEC acupuncture was better than NSPEC but difference not significant. Both were significantly better than massage |
| Allen et al. 2006 (USA) | Manualized specific acupuncture (SPEC) vs. nonspecific active acupuncture comparison (NSPEC) vs. wait list | No significant difference for SPEC and NSPEC but both significantly better than wait list control. |