Acupuncture with different frequencies for tobacco dependence: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To observe the effect of different acupuncture frequencies on the abstinence rate which could be used as a reference for optimizing acupuncture cessation programs.

Methods: From July 2018 to June 2022, a total of 220 smokers were recruited based on inclusion criteria and randomly divided into the high-frequency acupuncture group (HF group, n = 110): 5 times a week from the 1st to the 4th week, from weeks 5 to 8, three times a week and the low-frequency acupuncture group (LF group, n = 110): 3 times a week from the 1st to the 4th week, from weeks 5 to 8, twice a week, then treated for 8 weeks and follow-up at 1 month in Beijing.

Results: In total, 162 subjects completed the whole study with a drop-out rate of 20.45%. The expiratory CO point abstinence rate was HF group 53/110 (48.18%) vs LF group 41/110 (37.27%) in Week 8 (P = 0.102) and HF group 46/110 (41.82%) vs LF group 45/110 (40.91%) in Week 12 (P = 0.891) and the HF acupuncture and LF acupuncture were nearly equal in the 8-week abstinence rate. In addition, both HF and LF acupuncture significantly reduced Fagerstrőm test for nicotine dependence scale (FTND) scores (P < 0.05), Minnesota nicotine withdrawal scale (MNWS) scores (P < 0.05), and Brief Questionnaire of Smoking Urges scale (QSU-Brief) scores (P < 0.05), but HF acupuncture showed some superiority over LF acupuncture in relieving patients' smoking cravings (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: The study initially showed that both high-frequency acupuncture and low-frequency acupuncture treatment were safe and effective on smoking cessation for 8 weeks, but high-frequency acupuncture was advantageous in reducing smoking cravings. More accurate acupuncture frequency needs to be validated through larger clinical studies to optimize acupuncture smoking cessation programs.