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Acupuncture as an Adjunct to Methadone Treatment Services
Author(s) -
Wells Elizabeth A.,
Jackson Ron,
Diaz O. Rachel,
Stanton Viki,
Saxon Andrew J.,
Krupski Antoinette
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
the american journal on addictions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.997
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-0391
pISSN - 1055-0496
DOI - 10.3109/10550499509038105
Subject(s) - acupuncture , placebo , methadone , medicine , heroin , adjunct , urinalysis , confounding , placebo group , cannabis , attendance , craving , methadone maintenance , physical therapy , psychiatry , drug , addiction , alternative medicine , urine , linguistics , philosophy , pathology , economic growth , economics
The authors randomly assigned 60 subjects entering methadone maintenance treatment to receive “specific” or “nonspecific” (placebo) auricular acupuncture; patients were followed for 6 months. The two groups did not differ in acupuncture attendance, self‐reported withdrawal symptoms, or drug use, by self‐report or urinalysis. Their reports of heroin and cocaine cravings differed in a direction opposite to expectation, with greater cravings in the specific than the nonspecific group. The combined acupuncture groups had fewer cocaine‐positive urine results than a no‐acupuncture historical comparison group over the 6 months. Results are discussed in relation to recruitment for such studies, selection of an appropriate acupuncture placebo, and the need to control for potentially confounding variables in future studies.