Abstract
BackgroundSubthreshold depression refers to a state of mental sub-health that has depressive symptoms but does not meet the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder. It is a strong risk factor for depression and is related to an increase in suicide and mortality. Studies suggest that acupuncture may be effective in the treatment of subthreshold depression, but no evidence has proven that the efficacy of acupuncture for subthreshold depression is a specific therapeutic effect or a placebo effect.MethodsThis will be a prospective, randomized, controlled, and double-blind study of 64 patients with subthreshold depression. They will be randomly assigned as verum or minimal acupuncture group members. Patients in the verum acupuncture group will receive acupuncture at the acupoints, and those in the minimal acupuncture group will receive minimal acupuncture at non-acupoints. The interventions will be delivered over an 8-week period. The primary outcome measure will be the Hamilton Depression Scale-17 (HAMD-17). The secondary outcome measures will be the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), and SF-12v2 Health Survey. The assessments will occur at baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and during a follow-up period.DiscussionThe protocol uses a randomized controlled trial to examine the effectiveness of acupuncture for subthreshold depression and to further study the mechanisms of its effect.
Highlights
Subthreshold depression refers to a state of mental sub-health that has depressive symptoms but does not meet the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) [1]
Evaluation of Acupuncture Expectation Before the first treatment, we will use the acupuncture expectancy scale to evaluate the expectation of acupuncture in the subjects
Blind Success Rate Evaluation The percentage of patients who choose acupuncture will be compared between the two groups at the end of the last treatment
Summary
Subthreshold depression refers to a state of mental sub-health that has depressive symptoms but does not meet the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder. It is a strong risk factor for depression and is related to an increase in suicide and mortality. Subthreshold depression refers to a state of mental sub-health that has depressive symptoms but does not meet the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) [1]. Timely detection, diagnosis, and treatment of subthreshold depression will delay or reverse the development of MDD to effectively reduce the harm of depressive symptoms. Limited evidence suggests that antidepressants may be beneficial to patients with more severe depression [13] but are often accompanied by severe adverse reactions
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
