Acupuncture and the Relaxation Response for Substance Abuse

Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 3; Phase 2

Conditions: Substance Abuse

Treatments: Procedure: Acupuncture; Behavioral: Relaxation Response

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT00375102

1 EA-0000041

Details and patient eligibility

About

This one-year pilot study has two specific aims: 1. to determine the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled trial of acupuncture and the relaxation response for substance abuse among homeless veterans who are in a domiciliary care program, and 2. to collect and analyze pilot data to estimate the effect size for planning a future larger study to fully test the hypothesis of the effectiveness of acupuncture and the RR in reducing cravings for substances (alcohol and drugs), and the corollary effects on quality of life.

Full description

Substance abuse is one of the most important risk factors for homelessness. A high proportion of the US homeless population are veterans, in large part due to the high prevalence of substance abuse among veterans. Thus, effective substance abuse treatment in veterans is essential to preventing homelessness, as well as reintegrating those already homeless. Traditional substance abuse therapies have shown inconsistent effectiveness, suggesting a need for alternative therapies. Acupuncture and the relaxation response (RR) are two commonly used complementary and alternative medicine modalities that have shown benefit in some studies. However, they have not been studied in homeless veterans who have completed detoxification treatment and are in early remission. Acupuncture and the RR share common features, yet have distinct differences. Acupuncture has to be administered by acupuncturists, while RR elicitation is a self-care strategy that can be learned and practiced anytime and anywhere. We propose a pilot study to determine the feasibility of conducting a three-arm randomized controlled trial on veterans in the Bedford Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans program and to collect pilot data for planning future larger studies to test the effectiveness of acupuncture and the RR in reducing substance craving and improving anxiety and quality of life.

Enrollment: 67 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Have a substance abuse or dependence problem of any type of substance
2. Stay in the domiciliary for at least 10 weeks after the study entry to complete the study.

Exclusion criteria

1. Schizophrenia or psychotic diagnoses
2. Bleeding disorders (hemophilia or thrombocytopenia)
3. An allergy to metals (needles).

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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67 participants in 3 patient groups

Acup

Experimental group

Description:

Acupuncture

Treatment:

Procedure: Acupuncture

RR

Experimental group

Description:

Relaxation Response

Treatment:

Behavioral: Relaxation Response

UC

No Intervention group

Description:

Usual Care