Gender-Related Differences in Outcomes on Acupuncture and Moxibustion Treatment Among Depression Patients.
OBJECTIVE
This study sought to (1) assess the effectiveness of acupuncture and moxibustion with a method of soothing the liver and regulating the mind on the quality of life among patients with depression and (2) study the sex differences of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of depression on the basis of patient-reported outcomes.


METHODS
In a single-blind, randomized, controlled trial conducted in Guangdong Province, China, in January and December 2010, 163 patients who met the criteria for depression were enrolled. Eligible patients were allocated to three treatment groups (soothing liver and regulating mind group, acupoint shallow puncturing group, and non-acupoint shallow puncturing group). In all three groups, the treatment was given twice a week for 12 weeks. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) and Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL90) were used to quantitatively assess patients before and 1 and 3 months after treatment.


RESULTS
Non-statistically significant differences in the acupuncture and moxibustion therapeutic effects of soothing liver and regulating mind treatment were found between men and women (p>0.05). An item-by-item analysis of the SCL90 and HAMD scores showed sex differences between the efficacy of the soothing liver and regulating mind group and the group receiving acupoint shallow puncturing. Women obtained lower scores in somatization, interpersonal relationship, anxiety, terror, and extremeness items and HAMD scores in the soothing liver and regulating mind group than in the acupoint shallow puncturing group (p<0.05), while men showed no significant differences between the soothing liver and regulating mind group and the acupoint shallow puncturing group (p>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The therapeutic effect of soothing liver and regulating mind is similar for both sexes, but women were more sensitive to the efficacy of the soothing liver and regulating mind treatment compared with other methods. These findings could indicate an important issue to consider for the different acupuncture and moxibustion treatments for depression in men and women.
1 Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of TCM , Guangdong, Guangzhou, China .|2 Post-Doctoral Research Station of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine , Guangzhou, China .
Ling
L
Fan
3 The First Clinical College of Wenzhou Medical University , Zhejiang, China .
Juanfen
J
Gong
1 Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of TCM , Guangdong, Guangzhou, China .
Wenbin
W
Fu
4 Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona , Tucson, AZ.
Zhao
Z
Chen
5 Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine , Guangzhou, China .
Nenggui
N
Xu
1 Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of TCM , Guangdong, Guangzhou, China .
Jianhua
J
Liu
6 School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University , Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong .
Aiping
A
Lu
1 Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of TCM , Guangdong, Guangzhou, China .
Ziping
Z
Li
7 Primary Registry of WHO ICTRP, Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, Chinese Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu, China .
Taixiang
T
Wu
8 Epidemiology Center, Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences , Guangzhou, China .
Aihua
A
Ou
3 The First Clinical College of Wenzhou Medical University , Zhejiang, China .
Hongli
H
Xie
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002681:China; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009071:Moxibustion; D012737:Sex Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult