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

NCT ID: NCT06044714

Last Updated: 2026-01-28

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 86 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-09-01
• Study Completion Date: 2025-10-31

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.

Conditions

Perceived Stress

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

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

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Manual Standardized Stress Acupuncture (MSSA)

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Participants in the experimental group will receive 4 weekly sessions of MSSA, which consists of 8 acupuncture points: bilateral auricular (ear) shen men, GV- 20, GV-24.5 (Yin Tang), bilateral LI-4, and bilateral LR-3. Needles are left in situ for 30 minutes per session.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive four sessions of MBSR group psychotherapy (no more than 10 participants per group session) via Microsoft Teams. The first session will be 90 minutes followed by three 60-minute weekly sessions.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive four sessions of MBSR group psychotherapy (no more than 10 participants per group session) via Microsoft Teams. The first session will be 90 minutes followed by three 60-minute weekly sessions.

Interventions

Manual Standardized Stress Acupuncture (MSSA)

Participants in the experimental group will receive 4 weekly sessions of MSSA, which consists of 8 acupuncture points: bilateral auricular (ear) shen men, GV- 20, GV-24.5 (Yin Tang), bilateral LI-4, and bilateral LR-3. Needles are left in situ for 30 minutes per session.

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Participants will receive four sessions of MBSR group psychotherapy (no more than 10 participants per group session) via Microsoft Teams. The first session will be 90 minutes followed by three 60-minute weekly sessions.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

TriService Nursing Research Program

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of California, San Francisco

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

United States Naval Medical Center, San Diego

FED

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Jane J. Abanes

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Naval Medical Center, San Diego

San Diego, California, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

NMCSD.2022.0054

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id