Effect of acupuncture treatment in patients with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis: a randomized, participant- and assessor-blind sham-controlled trial

Abstract Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic recurrent inflammatory skin disease that affects 1–3% of adults worldwide. Currently, it is not possible to completely cure AD; therefore, alternative treatments need to be developed to meet the patients’ needs. Here, based on our previous pilot study, we conducted the first confirmatory randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of acupuncture in patients with mild to moderate AD. Methods A randomized, participant- and assessor-blinded, sham-controlled trial was designed with an intervention period twice-weekly for 4 weeks and a 4-week follow-up. We equally allocated 36 participants to the verum acupuncture (VA) and sham acupuncture (SA) groups. The main outcome measure was the change in SCORing Atopic Dermatitis index (SCORAD) score before and after treatment. Results A total of 36 participants, aged 19 to 38 years, were enrolled, and 35 were included in the intention-to-treat analyses. The mean change in total SCORAD score differed significantly among the two groups at 4 weeks after randomization (P