Electroacupuncture Combined With Antidepressants for Post-stroke Depression

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2013-02-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

This is a randomized, assessor-blind, placebo controlled study in post stroke depression patients. Subjects receiving antidepressant drug would be assigned to either active or placebo scalp electro-acupuncture treatment, on the hypothesis that acupuncture intervention combined with antidepressants could produce greater therapeutic effects than antidepressants alone.

• Phase: N/A
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong
• Collaborators: Kowloon Hospital, Hong Kong; Tung Wah Hospital
• Treatments: Antidepressive Agents; Fluoxetine

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• most recently experience an ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, documented by cerebral computed topographic scanning or magnetic resonance imaging

• develop significant depression, with a HAMD-17 score of 16 or greater

Exclusion Criteria:

• presence of severe aphasia, especially fluent aphasia

• presence of severe cognitive dysfunction, indicated the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) score of < 18

• had a history of psychiatric illness other than depression

• presence of another chronic disorder, including severe Parkinson's disease, cardiac disease, cancers, epilepsy, or chronic alcoholism

• impaired hepatic or renal function

• have bleeding tendency