Substance Abuse
Conditions
Keywords
Substance abuse, Methamphetamine addiction, Laser acupuncture
Brief summary
Methamphetamine (MA) addiction has become a crucial public health issue due to its adverse effects. Acupuncture has been used for drug detoxification for many years. However, some disadvantages are not be suitable for MA users. The advantages of laser acupuncture includes safety, painless, less time consuming and higher acceptability without current investigation. Therefore, investigators arrange this study to evaluate the efficacy of laser acupuncture combined with golden treatment of cognitive group therapy.
Detailed description
Methamphetamine (MA) addiction has become a crucial public health concern because of its adverse consequences to individuals and the society. Manual or auricular acupuncture have been applied in opioid dependence treatment for a long time. Electroacupuncture may also alleviate the symptoms of MA addiction such as psychosis, anxiety, and depression during abstinence. However, several comorbidities are associated with MA use, such as blood-borne infections, decreased the willingness of physicians to perform. The advantages of laser acupuncture (LA) include its safety, painlessness, limited time use, and higher acceptability, making it suitable for treatment of drug users. To investigate the clinical efficacy of laser acupuncture combined with group cognitive behavioral therapy for MA addiction treatment. MA users who participated in group cognitive behavioral therapy and met the inclusion criteria were referred from psychiatrists to participate. The participants received laser acupuncture treatment once a week for 2 months (total eight treatments) on selected acupoints (PC6, HT7, LI4, ST36, SP6, and LR3). Laboratory assessment included urinalysis for MA and liver function tests aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and γ-glutamyltransferase (AST, ALT, and r-GT), whereas the objective assessment included visual analog scale (VAS) for MA craving and refusal and Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaires. All data were collected before and at 1 and 2 months after treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy completion rate and rate of relapse to MA use were also determined.
Interventions
DEVICELaser acupuncture
The interventional group receive laser acupuncture applied on acupoints of PC6 (Neiguan), HT7 (Shenmen), LI4 (Hegu), ST36 (Zusanli), SP6 (Sanyinjiao), and LR3 (Taichong).
Sponsors
Ministry of Health and Welfare
Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Because of uncertainty of effectiveness of laser acupuncture and drop out rate of MA users, investigators make an observational single group of pilot study.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* subject must be aged ≥20 years, with full understanding of the content of the study and who signed a consent form * subject must be diagnosed as MA use disorder by a psychiatrist according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V) * subject must participate in cognitive behavioral therapy
Exclusion criteria
* subject received manual acupuncture or LA treatment in the preceding month * subject had cancer, stroke, myocardial infarction, or major trauma * subject demonstrated obvious suicide intention * subject were pregnant * subject were HIV-positive
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change of Amphetamine confirm test | change from baseline Amphetamine at 4 weeks and 8 weeks post-treatment | To confirm drug exposure involving amphetamines. |
| Change of Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) | change from baseline AST at 4 weeks and 8 weeks post-treatment | To detect liver damage. |
| Change of Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) | change from baseline ALT at 4 weeks and 8 weeks post-treatment | To detect liver damage. |
| Change of γ-glutamyltransferase (γ-GT) | change from baseline γ-GT at 4 weeks and 8 weeks post-treatment | To detect liver damage. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change of Visual analog scale (VAS) | change from baseline VAS at 4 weeks and 8 weeks post-treatment | Evaluation of MA craving and refusal from 0 to 10. |
| Change of Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) | change from baseline PSQI at 4 weeks and 8 weeks post-treatment | Evaluation of sleep quality. |
| Change of Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) | change from baseline BAI at 4 weeks and 8 weeks post-treatment | Evaluation the degree of anxiety. |
| Change of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) | change from baseline BDI at 4 weeks and 8 weeks post-treatment | Evaluation the degree of depression. |
Countries
Taiwan
Outcome results
None listed