Acupuncture and relaxation response for craving and anxiety reduction among military veterans in recovery from substance use disorder.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
Substance use disorder (SUD) is a major health issue, especially among military veterans. We previously reported the effects of auricular acupuncture and the relaxation response (RR) on reducing craving and anxiety following 10-week interventions among veterans who were in recovery from SUDs. Our current analysis examines effects following each intervention session and RR daily practice.
METHODS:
We conducted a three-arm randomized controlled trial on residents of a homeless veteran rehabilitation program. Sixty-Seven enroled participants were randomly assigned to acupuncture (n = 23), RR (n = 23), or usual care (n = 21). Participants in the two intervention groups rated their degree of craving for substance on a scale of 1-10 and anxiety levels on a scale of 1-4 (total score 20-80) before and after each intervention session. Mixed effects regression models were used for analysis.
RESULTS:
Craving and anxiety levels decreased significantly following one session of acupuncture (-1.04, p = .0001; -8.83, p < .0001) or RR intervention (-.43, p = .02; -4.64, p = .03). The level of craving continued to drop with additional intervention sessions (regression coefficient b = -.10, p = .01, and b = -.10, p = .02 for acupuncture and RR groups, respectively). Number of daily practice days of RR-eliciting techniques is also associated with reduction in craving ratings (b = -.02, p = .008).
CONCLUSIONS:
Findings demonstrate the value of attending regular acupuncture and RR-eliciting intervention sessions, as well as the daily practice of RR-eliciting techniques.
SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE:
Substance addiction is a complex disease and effective treatment remains a challenge. Our study findings add to the scientific evidence of these two non-pharmaceutical approaches for SUD. (Am J Addict 2014;23:129-136).
Copyright © American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry.
PMID: 25187049