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Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2016, 18, N6 (pages: 29 - 36)

Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial of Auricular Acupuncture in Men with Schizophrenia and Co-Occurring Multisubstance Use Disorders

Gimelfarb Y., Goldstein E., Natan Z., Elwahidi S., Kaikov E., and Baruch Y.

Summary: Background: There is no empirical evidence to recommend auricular acupuncture treatment for patients with schizophrenia and co-occurring substance use disorders. The lack of data on the efficacy and safety of auricular acupuncture has led to the inappropriate use of this therapeutic intervention in this population. Aim: To investigate the effects of auricular acupuncture with Antipsychotic Drugs (APD) versus APD alone on changes in both psychiatric and addiction issues in dual diagnosis patients. Methods: Randomized, controlled open label trial with a study sample of schizophrenic men with multisubstance use disorders conducted between January 2007 and November 2012. There were 41 randomly selected participants, of whom 36 had been analysed. The study population, who attended auricular acupuncture sessions 4-5 times a week and APD, comprised 22 men (mean age 31.0+8.9 years; 20 (90.9%) with atypical APD), while the control population (APD alone) comprised 14 men (mean age 32.7+6.8 years; 10 (71.4%) of them with atypical APD). Outcome Measures: Antipsychotic efficacy was measured by Clinical Global Impression–Severity (CGI-S) and CGI-Improvement (CGI-I); craving was measured by Dartmouth Assessment of Lifestyle Inventory (Drug-DALI); treatment compliance was measured by Drug Attitude Inventory-10 (DAI-10). Results: There were no significant differences between the groups before the trial. There were no differences in CGI-I between the subpopulations during RCT (NS). A decrease was found in the mean DALI score in both subpopulations after 10 (p<.001) and again after 20 (p<.05) sessions. There was an increase in the mean DAI score in the study subpopulation after 10 sessions (p<.001). Conclusions: Auricular acupuncture with APD is likely to be associated with greater improvement in treatment compliance.