Randomized Clinical Trial of Acupuncture for Treating Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Long COVID in Adults

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are evaluating acupuncture as a treatment for neuropsychiatric symptoms in people with long Covid, aiming to provide guidance for non-drug therapies. This pragmatic, randomized, double-blinded clinical trial will include 160 participants diagnosed by a registered Chinese medicine practitioner. The study will compare acupuncture to conventional therapy over a 12-week period to understand its effects on symptoms like fatigue, anxiety, depression, cognitive impairment, memory loss, and insomnia. Participants will be randomly assigned to two groups one receiving acupuncture and one receiving conventional treatment without acupuncture. The acupuncture group will have 24 sessions over 12 weeks, with treatments tailored based on traditional Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation related to their main symptoms. Follow-up assessments will occur at week 18 to monitor changes after treatment ends. Throughout the study, participants will undergo various evaluations including cognitive testing with the Mini-Mental State Examination MMSE, depression rating scales, insomnia severity, fatigue questionnaires, anxiety assessments, and traditional Chinese medicine symptom scales. These will be measured at baseline, during treatment at 6 and 12 weeks, and at the 18-week follow-up. The study aims to assess the impact of acupuncture on these neuropsychiatric symptoms and monitor participants progress over time.

Acupuncture for Post COVID-19 Condition (Long COVID) Neuropsychiatric Symptoms