title: Improvement in quality of life in depressed patients following verum acupuncture or electroacupuncture plus paroxetine: A randomized controlled study of 157 cases.
abstract: Depressed patients with scores of 17 or more on the 17 items of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale were treated with the antidepressant drug paroxetine. They also underwent verum acupuncture or electroacupuncture at Baihui (GV20) and Yintang (GV29). The World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Brief Version showed a significant increase in the total scores of patients who underwent verum acupuncture and electroacupuncture for 6 weeks compared with those who were given paroxetine only; significantly increased physical domain and social relationship scores in verum acupuncture patients compared with paroxetine only; and significantly elevated psychological domain scores with electroacupuncture compared with paroxetine only. These results indicate that both verum acupuncture and electroacupuncture can improve quality of life in depressed patients undergoing paroxetine treatment.
authors.affiliation: First Clinical Medical College, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Shenghui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Junqi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Renyong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Chongqi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Ganlong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Hospital, Guangzhou 510630, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Canghuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Guangdong 999 Brain Hospital, Guangzhou 510510, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Shenchang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 999077, China.
authors.forename: Zhangjin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Chinese medicine; World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Brief Version; acupuncture; depression; electroacupuncture; neural regeneration; paroxetine; quality of life