Effectiveness of acupuncture for vascular cognitive impairment no dementia: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective:: To evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture in patients with vascular cognitive impairment no dementia (VCIND) in comparison with citicoline, an agent for cognitive disturbances associated with chronic cerebral disorders.

Design:: A randomized controlled multicenter trial.

Setting:: In three hospitals in Beijing, China.

Subjects:: A total of 216 patients with VCIND were recruited.

Interventions:: Patients with VCIND (mean age of 65.4 years) were randomized to receive acupuncture (two sessions per week) or oral citicoline (100 mg three times daily) over three months.

Main Measures:: The primary outcome was the change from baseline to three months in cognitive symptom, measured by Alzheimer's disease Assessment Scale, cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog). Secondary outcomes included changes from baseline to six months in ADAS-cog, executive function measured by the Clock Drawing Test (CDT), and functional disability measured by the Ability of Daily Living (ADL) scale at three and six months.

Results:: At three months, the acupuncture group had a greater decrease in mean ADAS-cog score (-2.33 ± 0.31) than the citicoline group (-1.38 ± 0.34) with a mean difference of -0.95 (95% CI, -1.84 to -0.07, P = 0.035). The mean change from baseline to six months in ADAS-cog also significantly favored acupuncture treatments (acupuncture change -2.61 vs citicoline -1.25, difference: -1.36 points; 95% CI, -2.20 to -0.51; P = 0.002). There was no difference between the two groups on CDT and ADL scores at either time point.

Conclusion:: Compared with citicoline, acupuncture has comparable and even superior efficacy with improved cognitive and daily living performance as a complementary and alternative medicine treatment for VCIND.