Acupuncture in the treatment of depression: an integrative literature review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18310/2446-4813.2025v11n2.4186Keywords:
Depression, Acupuncture, Therapeutics, Mental HealthAbstract
Acupuncture is an ancient practice widely spread in the Western Word to provide quality of life and well-being. This study aimed to describe the insertion of systemic acupuncture in the treatment of depression according to the national and international literature. An integrative literature review study, elaborated through the IOP strategy, based on the guiding question: how has acupuncture contributed (or not) to the treatment of depression? The search expression consisted of indexed descriptors and their respective synonyms, combined by Boolean operators, which were inserted in Bases de Dados de Enfermagem (BDENF), Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (Lilacs), Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (Medline), Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and PsycArticles. Randomized clinical trials and full articles published in Portuguese, English, and Spanish were considered as inclusion criteria. In turn, as exclusion criteria were duplicate articles, studies involving animals, reviews, gray literature, articles that addressed only microsystems (auriculopuncture/auriculotherapy/craniopuncture), electroacupuncture and any other point stimulation other than systemic acupuncture. A total of 21 articles were found, which were read in full, where the positive and negative contributions of acupuncture to the treatment of depression were identified. It was found that acupuncture, as a complementary technique to the conventional treatment of depression, can redeem or reduce symptoms, bringing well-being and quality of life. However, it generates controversy in the literature regarding its effectiveness and safety.
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