N/A N=81 Randomized Quadruple-blind Treatment

Delirium Treatment With Acupuncture in Internal Medicine Departments

Delirium in Old Age

Bottom Line

View on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03398928 ↗

Enrolled (actual)

Serious AEs

0.0%

Results posted

Sep 2020

Primary outcome: Primary: Number of Delirium-free Days During the 7 Days of Evaluation — 5.5; 0 days — p=<0.001

Study Design & Population

Study type: Interventional
Phase: N/A
Interventions: Acupuncture (Other)
Age: Older Adult · 65+ yrs
Sex: All
Sponsor: Bnai Zion Medical Center
Primary completion: Dec 2019

Outcome Measures

Outcome	Result	p-value
PRIMARY Number of Delirium-free Days During the 7 Days of Evaluation	5.5; 0	<0.001 sig
PRIMARY Time-to-first Remission of Delirium in the 7 Days of Evaluation	1; 7	<0.001 sig
SECONDARY Length of Hospital Stay	16.4; 18.3	—
SECONDARY Functional Status at Discharge	2; 3.5	—
SECONDARY Delirium Severity	11; 3; 6; 0; 9; 1	0.002 sig
SECONDARY Number of Days in Which Antipsychotic Drugs Were Used	7; 7	0.253
SECONDARY Visual Assessment Scale (VAS) for Pain	0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0	—
SECONDARY Sleep	1; 1; 0; 1; 0; 0	—
SECONDARY Delirium Complications	1; 1; 5; 5; 3; 2	—
SECONDARY Mortality	0; 0	—

Summary

Delirium frequently occurs in hospitalized older people, and treatment options are limited. Acupuncture has been shown to reduce agitation in the setting of dementia. The investigators will test the hypothesis that it may also assist in treating delirium.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

Hospitalized in internal medicine department
Aged over 65 years
Delirium or subsyndromal delirium within the last 48 hours

Exclusion Criteria

Platelet count under 20x10^9/L
Encephalopathy explained by a cause other than delirium (acute stroke, alcohol, cirrhosis, etc.)
History of severe dementia
Communication barriers preventing delirium assessment

View full record on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03398928). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication.