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GENERAL ARTICLES

Auricular Acupuncture: A Potential Treatment for Anxiety

Shu-Ming Wang, MD^*, and Zeev N. Kain, MD*

*Department of Anesthesiology, and the Departments of Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Shu-Ming Wang, MD, Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, PO Box 208051, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06521. Address e-mail to shu-ming.wang{at}yale.edu

Acupuncture can be an effective treatment for chronic anxiety disorders. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture in reducing anxiety in a volunteer population. If found effective, this modality could be introduced as a treatment of anxiety before surgery. Adult volunteers (n = 55), were randomized to three treatment groups: a) Shenmen group—bilateral auricular acupuncture at the "shenmen" point; b) Relaxation group—bilateral auricular acupuncture at a "relaxation" point; and c) Sham group—bilateral auricular acupuncture at a "sham" point. Press-acupuncture needles were inserted at the respective auricular areas for 48 h. State anxiety, blood pressure, heart rate, and electrodermal activity were assessed at 30 min, 24 h, and 48 h after insertion. Analyzing anxiety levels using repeated-measures analysis of variance has demonstrated a significant difference [F (2,51) =8.8, P = 0.001] between the three treatment groups. Post hoc analysis demonstrated that patients in the Relaxation group were significantly less anxious at 30 min (P = 0.007) and 24 h (P = 0.035) as compared with patients in both the Shenmen group and the Sham group, and less anxious at 48 h (P = 0.042) as compared with patients in Shenmen group. Repeated-measures analysis of variance performed for electrodermal activity, blood pressure, and heart rate demonstrated no group differences (P = ns). We conclude that auricular acupuncture at the "relaxation" point can decrease the anxiety level in a population of healthy volunteers.

Implications: Auricular acupuncture at the "relaxation" point can decrease anxiety in healthy volunteers.

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