Efficacy of acupuncture at ghost points in elders with depression: A randomized controlled study protocol

Importance: Ghost Points acupuncture in Traditional Chinese Medicine, has gained recognition as a complementary therapy for mental health disorders such as depression. However, evidence regarding its effectiveness in treating geriatric depression remains limited, particularly in addressing emotional and autonomic imbalances in the elderly.

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture at Ghost Points in reducing depressive symptoms among elderly individuals.

Design, setting, and population: This study will be a randomized controlled trial design, involving 60 participants aged 60 and above. Participants will be recruited from our outpatient department and randomly allocated to either an intervention group (receiving Ghost Points acupuncture) or a control group (receiving no treatment).

Exposures: The intervention group will receive acupuncture at Ghost Points for 20 minutes, three times a week for 12 weeks. The control group received no intervention.

Main outcomes and measures: The primary outcome will be the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Secondary outcomes will be Presumptive Stressful Life Events Scale (PSLES), visual and auditory reaction times, and critical flicker frequency. Assessment will be taken at before and 12 weeks after the intervention.

Results: Following the post-intervention, the expected outcome will be the reduction of GDS and PSLES scores in the study group.