Controlled clinical trials on treatment of depression with tuina or Deanxit

Abstract

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of tuina in treating depression. Method: Eighty depression cases that conformed to the inclusive criteria were randomized into tuina and Deanxit group, with 40 cases in each group. Tuina manipulations were adopted for cases in the tuina group, 30 min for each treatment. While 2 Deanxit tablets were adopted for cases in the Deanxit group, twice a day. The clinical efficacy of the two groups was evaluated by using Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) before treatment and the 2nd, 4th and 6th weeks after. In addition, the Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS) was adopted to evaluate the adverse reactions in the two groups. Result: Both tuina and Deanxit can help to relieve the symptoms of depression patients. The effective rate of tuina and Deanxit were 72.5% and 70.0% respectively. However, there were no adverse reactions in tuina group, while 12.5% of adverse reaction rate occurred in the Deanxit group. Conclusion: Tuina can definitely benefit patients with depression and cause no adverse reactions. © Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian and Springer-Verlag GmbH 2009.