None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This pilot study looks at the role of acupuncture as an adjunct therapy to restore weight, improve eating behaviours and reduce anxiety and depression in those suffering from Anorexia Nervosa. You can join this study if you are receiving treatment at the Hills Private Hospital and you are medically stable. Participants who consent to be randomised will receive acupuncture plus usual care or light massage plus usual care. Those participants who declined to be randomised will be invited to participate in the study as usual care only group. Both the acupuncture and light massage groups receive three weeks of twice weekly treatment followed by three weeks of once weekly treatment. Effective management of Anorexia Nervosa is important to achieve positive ling term physical and mental health outcomes. Preliminary reports suggest that acupuncture may help improve quality of life and anxiety. The results of this study will be used in the design of a larger trial on the use of acupuncture as an adjunct therapy for the treatment of Anorexia Nervosa.
Interventions
Study group 1: Traditional Acupuncture while receiving their usual care at the Hills Private Hospital. Usual care is the participant's individually tailored Hills treatment which involves a combination of medical, pharmacological and psychological therapy and rehabilitation.
Pragmatic acupuncture based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis will be used. Two treatments a week will be administered for the first three weeks while they are an inpatient and then weekly for three weeks dur
Study group 1: Traditional Acupuncture while receiving their usual care at the Hills Private Hospital. Usual care is the participant's individually tailored Hills treatment which involves a combination of medical, pharmacological and psychological therapy and rehabilitation. Pragmatic acupuncture based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis will be used. Two treatments a week will be administered for the first three weeks while they are an inpatient and then weekly for three weeks during their attendance as an outpatient. Acupuncture will be applied bilaterally. Duration of each treatment is 45 minutes. Acupuncture needles will be inserted to tissue level and stimulated manually to elicit the needling sensation de qi and stimulated once more during this treatment session. Needles will be retained for a minimum of 20 minutes. Single-use disposable stainless steel needles (0.25 x 40mm) will be used. All points will be located according to the WHO International Standard Acupuncture Point Locations that was agreed on at Tsukuba, Japan, November 2006.
Sponsors
University of Western Sydney
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
15 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Participants 15 years or greater with a primary clinical diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa with purging and/or restricting subtype. Participants must be medical stable (e.g. heart rate of >40bpm, blood pressure > 90/60mmHg, no electrolyte abnormalities and temperature > 36 degrees C. They must be receiving treatment at the Hills Private Hospital and also have the ability to provide informed written consent.
Exclusion criteria
Any serious co morbid medical illness other than the complications of malnutrition associated with Anorexia Nervosa, substance dependence, psychosis or bipolar disorder. Unable to attend the allocated intervention sessions or the concurrent use of acupuncture or light massage.
Outcome results
None listed