Effects of Acupuncture on Perceived Stress and Health in Military Service Members

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Perceived Stress
• Interventions: Procedure: Manual Standardized Stress Acupuncture (MSSA); Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

• Registration Number: NCT06044714
• Lead Sponsor: United States Naval Medical Center, San Diego

Brief Summary

The goal of this is to investigate the effect of a Manual Standardized Stress Acupuncture (MSSA) protocol as an adjunct treatment to a short-term mindfulness therapy for perceived stress and general health in service members (i.e., active duty military personnel and veterans).

The specific aims of this study are Aim 1) To evaluate the effectiveness of a brief MSSA as an adjunct treatment with a short-term Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) compared with MBSR alone for perceived stress and general health in service members. Aim 2) To describe any perceived benefits of MSSA as an adjunct treatment with MBSR compared with MBSR alone for perceived stress and general health.

Participants will be asked to complete an informed consent if eligible for the study and randomized into two groups: 1) Participants in the experimental group will receive MSSA in addition to MBSR. 2) Participants in the control group will receive MBSR only. Researchers will compare experimental and control groups to see if the interventions mitigated perceived stress and improved the health of the participants.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2023-09-08
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-09-17
• Study First Posted: 2023-09-21
• Study Start: 2024-09-01
• Status Verified: 2025-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-05-19
• Last Update Posted: 2025-05-22
• Primary Completion: 2025-11
• Study Completion: 2025-11

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 84

Inclusion Criteria

• Active duty and veteran service members,
• 18 to 65 years of age, self-report of perceived stress symptoms for at least one month,
• a score of 16 or above on the PSS,
• stable on psychiatric and other medications including blood pressure agents for at least three months,
• agrees to participate in group psychotherapy (i.e., MBSR), and
• able to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria

• Recent surgery within one month,
• alcohol abuse or dependence diagnosis within one month,
• active substance use/abuse/dependency treatment within one month,
• pregnant women (acupuncture can result in an induction of labor and spontaneous abortion on rare occasions), and
• has had acupuncture treatment, dry needling, and MBSR provided by a provider in the past month.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Manual Standardized Stress Acupuncture (MSSA) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)	Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)	-
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)	Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)	-
Manual Standardized Stress Acupuncture (MSSA) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)	Manual Standardized Stress Acupuncture (MSSA)	-

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)	At baseline, at two weeks post interventions, and at four weeks post interventions	The PSS is a 10-item scale used to evaluate perceived stress experience in adults. Perceived general stress is rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from never to very often. The total possible scores for PSS range from 0 to 56, with higher scores indicating higher stress.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Insomnia Severity Index	At baseline, at two weeks post interventions, and at four weeks post interventions	The ISI is a seven-item standardized self-report questionnaire that measures the subjective symptoms of insomnia. These subjective symptoms include the respondents' concerns and distress because of problems with sleep. The ISI measure contains seven items: perceived difficulty with sleep-onset, sleep maintenance, and early morning awakenings; satisfaction with sleep patterns; interference of sleep problems with daily functioning; impairment because of a sleep problem; and degree of distress or concern with the sleep problem. Each item in the ISI is rated from 0 to 4 whereby the higher number indicates more difficulty. The scores are added to yield a range of total scores from 0 to 28 in which a higher score suggests more severe insomnia.
The Short Form (SF) Health Survey	At baseline, at two weeks post interventions, and at four weeks post interventions	The 20-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-20) measures the multidimensional concept of health including perceptions about general health, physical health, mental health, and social functioning. Scores are transformed to a scale of 0 to 100 wherein high scores indicate better functioning.
Journal Log	At weeks 2 and 4 after treatments have been completed.	Journal entries will include five open-ended questions about the participants' perceived benefits of treatment.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Naval Medical Center, San Diego; 🇺🇸 San Diego, California, United States