Trial reportAge and ageing2026
Acupuncture for older adults with dementia in residential care homes: an assessor-blinded, randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in Age and ageing, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04305951 (Combining Acupuncture and Acupressure for Dementia Elderly), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Combining Acupuncture and Acupressure for Dementia Elderly: an Assessor-blinded, Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDementia harms the mental health of older adults and poses a significant caregiver burden. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in managing cognitive decline and related symptoms in older adults with dementia.
methodsEligible participants were recruited from 19 local residential care homes for older people in Hong Kong, China, from 5 October 2021 to 27 August 2024, in an assessor-blinded, randomised controlled trial. 118 participants were randomised to acupuncture and care-as-usual control (n=59 in each group) for 12 weeks. The analyses were on the intention-to-treat population. The primary outcome was the mean baseline-to-endpoint change of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score. Secondary outcomes included the functional independence, pain, depressive and sleep symptoms.
results85.6% (101/118) of participants completed the study. The primary outcome, MoCA, was not significantly improved in week 12. Subgroup analyses showed that the treatment effect on MoCA appeared to differ across dementia severity strata. Acupuncture was superior over control in improving functional independence (the Chinese version of the Modified Barthel Index, mean difference=4.12, 95% confidence interval=0.81, 7.44, P=0.015; standardised effect size=0.29). All treatment-related adverse events were mild, and 2 nontreatment-related death cases were reported.
conclusionsWhile no significant effect in cognitive function was observed, acupuncture was associated with an improvement in functional independence, and the treatment effect on cognition might differ across dementia severity strata. This warrants further validation of the exploratory results, identifying a subpopulation of older adults with dementia who could gain more benefits from acupuncture in improving cognitive function.
trial registrationwww.ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04305951, date of registration: 10/03/2020.
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