Effects of Electro-Acupuncture on Personality Traits in Depression:A Randomized Controlled Study

Objective:To explore the personality-adjusting effect of electro-acupuncture treatment for depression and compared this treatment with paroxetine treatment.Methods:A non-blinded,randomized controlled trial was adopted.Sixty depressed patients,who met trial criteria,were randomly assigned to the treatment and the control groups.In the treatment group,electro-acupuncture treatment was used,and paroxetine treatment was used in the control group.During the 24-week study period,12 patients dropped out and 48 patients completed the study.The Minnesota Multiple Personality Inventory(MMPI) was adopted as the evaluation tool.At the same time,the Self-rating Depression Scale(SDS),Self-rating Anxiety Scale(SAS) and Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale(MADRS) were used to evaluate the psychological state.Evaluations were done before and after treatment.Results:After treatment,patients’ psychological state improved significantly in both groups(P<0.01).For the treatment group,within-group comparison between baseline and after 24 weeks of treatment showed that severity of depression had significantly decreased(P<0.01).MADRS and SDS scores decreased significantly(P<0.05) and MMPI subscale scores for hypochondriasis,depression,psychopathic deviate,psychasthenia,social introversion and fake decreased significantly(P<0.05).For the control group,severity of depression also decreased significantly.MADRS and SDS scores decreased significantly(P<0.05);and MMPI subscale scores for hypochondriasis,depression,hysteria,paranoia,and psychasthenia decreased significantly(P<0.05).Between-group comparison demonstrated that for the MMPI subscales paranoia and social introversion,the decrease of score was greater in the treatment group than in the control group(P<0.05).However,there were no other significant differences between the control group and the treatment group.Conclusion:Electro-acupuncture is effective for treating depression and affects personality traits.