Acupuncture for Major Depression: No Benefit?

Complementary and alternative medicine treatments are increasingly used by patients across the U.S. Several studies suggest that depressed individuals are particularly likely to turn to such treatments. In this randomized, controlled trial, researchers compared specific acupuncture (SPEC; using specific acupuncture points to treat each individual’s depressive symptoms), nonspecific acupuncture (NSPEC; using valid but nonspecific acupuncture points), and a wait-list condition in 151 moderately ill adults with major depression (mean Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [HAM-D] score, 22).

Treatments were provided twice weekly for 4 weeks, then once weekly for another 4 weeks. Acupuncturists were blind to the study hypothesis and to the derivat…