A Study of Acupuncture for Treating Asthma

Sponsor
Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Study ID
NCT07611955
Status
Not Yet Recruiting

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Conditions

  • Asthma
  • Asthma (Diagnosis)
  • Asthma Chronic

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
18 Years - 70 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Not accepted

Interventions

  • Acupuncture — PROCEDURE
    Patients are seated with routine disinfection of acupoints. Dazhui (GV14) is perpendicularly needled 0.5-1 cun; Feishu (BL13) and Fengmen (BL12) are perpendicularly needled toward the spine for 0.5-0.8 cun; Baihui (GV20) is needled subcutaneously at 15-30° to the scalp for 0.5 cun; Yintang (GV29) is obliquely needled downward for 0.3-0.5 cun after pinching local skin . Even reinforcing-reducing manipulation is adopted. Each treatment lasts 30 minutes, three times weekly (no treatment on Sundays) for 10 consecutive sessions. Eye masks are used, with separation of operators and outcome assessors.
  • Sham Acupuncture — PROCEDURE
    Patients are seated with routine disinfection of acupoints. Streitberger non-penetrating placebo needles are applied to the same acupoints as true acupuncture (Dazhui GV14, Feishu BL13, Fengmen BL12, Baihui GV20, Yintang GV29) with identical position, duration and frequency. Each sham session lasts 30 minutes, three times weekly (no treatment on Sundays) for 10 consecutive sessions. Eye masks are used, with separation of operators and outcome assessors.
  • Usual Care — OTHER
    Patients receive routine asthma pharmacological treatment without additional acupuncture intervention.

Study Details

Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease with a low clinical control rate, highlighting the need for novel therapeutic strategies. Recurrent asthma attacks emotional symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, etc. On the contrary, symptoms such as anxiety and depression worsen asthma control. Acupuncture is commonly applied as an effective traditional Chinese medical therapy for asthma. Acupoints GV14, BL13 and BL12 are adopted for the intervention of asthma. GV20 and GV29 are selected to improve emotional symptoms including depression. Nevertheless, standardized therapeutic regimens of acupuncture for asthma and its concomitant emotional symptoms are still lacking. 180 patients with mild to moderate asthma will be recruited in this multicenter randomized controlled trial, randomly assigned to the true acupuncture group, sham acupuncture group and usual care group. The primary outcome is the score of the Asthma Control Test (ACT). Secondary outcomes include the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ), pulmonary function, and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO). The superiority of combined acupuncture therapy in improving asthma control, relieving negative emotions, and enhancing quality of life is to be verified in this study, with high quality evidence for acupuncture treatment of asthma thereby to be provided.

Key Dates

First listed
May 28, 2026
Start date
May 21, 2026
Status verified
May 2026
Primary completion
Mar 31, 2028
Completion
Sep 30, 2028

Study Design

Enrollment
180 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT

Arms

  • Experimental: True Acupuncture Group
    Acupuncture Group: On routine standard asthma treatment, participants receive acupuncture. Disposable sterile needles (Wuxi Jiajian Medical Instrument Co., Ltd.) are used: 0.25 mm×25 mm for Baihui (GV20), Yintang (GV29); 0.30 mm×40 mm for Dazhui (GV14), bilateral Fengmen (BL12) and Feishu (BL13).Qualified acupuncturists perform treatment following GB/T 12346-2021. Patients sit with routine skin disinfection. Baihui: 15-30° oblique insertion, 0.5 cun. Yintang: downward oblique puncture 0.3-0.5 cun with skin pinched. Dazhui: perpendicular 0.5-1 cun. Fengmen and Feishu: perpendicular toward spine, 0.5-0.8 cun. Even reinforcing-reducing manipulation is applied. Each session lasts 30 minutes, 3 times weekly for 10 sessions. Eye masks are used; operators are separated from outcome assessors.
  • Sham Comparator: Sham Acupuncture Group
    Sham Acupuncture Group: On the basis of routine standard asthma treatment, participants receive Streitberger placebo needle intervention. The Streitberger placebo needle (Asiamed GmbH, Germany) is a non-penetrating sham acupuncture device with identical appearance to real needles but a blunt tip. Upon gentle skin contact, the shaft retracts into the handle, secured by an external patch to simulate needle insertion visually. The same acupoints are used as in the acupuncture group: GV14, BL13, BL12, GV20 and GV29.Participants sit with routine skin disinfection. The placebo needle base pad is fixed on acupoints. Vertical pressure on the handle retracts the shaft without skin penetration. Each session lasts 30 minutes, 3 times weekly for 10 consecutive sessions. Needles are removed directly without hemostasis. Eye masks are used during treatment; operators are separated from outcome assessors.
  • Active Comparator: Usual Care Group
    Participants receive only standard pharmacological treatment for asthma in accordance with clinical guidelines, without any acupuncture or related interventions.

Primary Outcome Measure

Asthma Control Test (ACT) [ Time Frame: Change from baseline to week 4 (end of treatment) ]

Central Contacts

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