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. 2022 Oct 28;101(43):e31456.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000031456.

Efficacy and safety evaluation of adjuvant auricular acupuncture for smoking cessation: A study protocol of randomized, assessor-blinded, pragmatic pilot trial

Won-Suk Sung  1 , In Suh Choi  2 , Jeong-Hyun Moon  3 , Soo-Yeon Chae  3 , Min-Gi Jo  4 , Jung-Hyun Kim  4 , Yeon-Cheol Park  5 , Eun-Jung Kim  1 , Yong-Hyeon Baek  5 , Geun-Woo Kim  6 , Byung-Kwan Seo  5
Affiliations

Efficacy and safety evaluation of adjuvant auricular acupuncture for smoking cessation: A study protocol of randomized, assessor-blinded, pragmatic pilot trial

Won-Suk Sung et al. Medicine (Baltimore). .

Abstract

Background: Smoking negatively impacts public health. There are several treatments to quit smoking, and nicotine replacement treatment (NRT) reportedly doubles the smoking cessation rate, with some limitations. Acupuncture is an alternative option with proven effects on smoking cessation. However, there has been no definite report that indicates the efficacy and safety of auricular acupuncture (AA) combined with NRT on smoking cessation.

Methods: This is a randomized, assessor-blind, and pragmatic pilot study. We will recruit 40 participants who want to stop smoking and randomly allocate them into an NRT group and an NRT + AA group with a 1:1 ratio. Participants will receive NRT for 4 weeks and the NRT + AA group will receive additional AA treatment with 5 AA points (Shenmen (TF4), lung (CO14), throat (TF3), inner nose (TG4), and endocrine (CO18)) twice a week for 4 weeks. Follow-up will be conducted 1 and 3 months after intervention completion. The primary outcome will be tobacco consumption and abstinence rate determined by calculating the rate of change in cigarette use and a urine test. Secondary outcomes will be the quality of life (EuroQol-5D and visual analogue scale), nicotine dependence (Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence), nicotine withdrawal (Minnesota nicotine withdrawal scale), physical effects, satisfaction, and safety measurement (adverse events).

Results: We will investigate the efficacy and safety of AA combined with NRT treatment for smoking cessation.

Conclusion: Our study will provide additional clinical evidence for AA as an adjuvant treatment for smoking cessation.

Trial registration number: Clinical Research Information Service (registration number: KCT0007212).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow diagram based on CONSORT 2010.[22] AA = auricular acupuncture, NRT = nicotine replacement treatment.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Study schedule. AA = auricular acupuncture, EQ = EuroQol, FTND = Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence, MNWS = Minnesota nicotine withdrawal scale, NRT = nicotine replacement treatment, VAS = visual analogue scales.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The 5 auricular acupuncture points in this study. 1 = shenmen (TF4), 2 = lung (CO14), 3 = throat (TF3), 4 = inner nose (TG4), 5 = endocrine (CO18).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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