[Effectiveness of acupuncture in treating schizophrenia: a clinical randomized trial of 31 patients].

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture is one of the most popular types of complementary/alternative medicine in the world. It is sometimes used as a treatment for schizophrenia mainly in China.

AIM: To assess the contribution of acupuncture in the treatment of patients treated for schizophrenia in Tunisian population.

METHODS: Our study is a clinical randomized trial about 31 hospitalized patients with schizophrenia or schizo-affectif disorder (DSM IV). They were evaluated by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) and the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) the first and 23nd day of the study. Manual acupuncture was used for 10 sessions at the rate of three sessions per week. All patients were under drug therapy. Among them, 15 were treated by acupuncture and 16 by sham acupuncture.

RESULTS: Scores of the PANSS, SAPS and SANS were similar in the two groups at the end of the study.

CONCLUSION: Our study did not provide any evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating schizophrenic symptoms.