Pharmacopuncture for patients with psychological stress caused by traffic accidents: A pragmatic randomized...

The effectiveness and safety of stress-focused pharmacopuncture in patients experiencing psychological stress following a traffic accident remain unclear. We aimed to conduct a randomized controlled trial to determine the effectiveness and safety of pharmacopuncture for these patients.

A total of 50 patients were included in this randomized controlled pilot trial. Inpatients who scored ≥8 on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety (HADS-A) or Depression (HADS-D) subscales following a traffic accident were randomized to receive either integrative Korean medicine (IKM) treatment alone (comparison group) or IKM treatment combined with stress-focused pharmacopuncture (pharmacopuncture group). The primary outcomes were the changes in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) scores, HADS total score (HADS-T), HADS-A, and HADS-D, from baseline to discharge. Secondary outcomes included the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for anxiety, depression, and physical pain; the Korean version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R-K); the Korean version of the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI-K); the EuroQol 5-Dimension (EQ-5D); and the Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) score.

Compared to the comparison group, the pharmacopuncture group showed statistically significant improvements in the HADS-T (difference: 2.30, 95 % CI 0.53 to 4.07), HADS-A (difference: 1.09, 95 % CI 0.17 to 2.02), HADS-D (difference: 1.25, 95 % CI 0.25 to 2.25), NRS of anxiety (difference: 0.85, 95 % CI 0.10 to 1.59), and PGIC (difference: 0.52, 95 % CI 0.07 to 0.97) at the primary endpoint. No serious adverse events were reported.

Stress-focused pharmacopuncture may alleviate anxiety and depression symptoms and potentially accelerate recovery after traffic accidents.

ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT06107777.