A pilot controlled trial of a combination of dense cranial electroacupuncture stimulation and body acupuncture for post-stroke depression

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of subjects

Variables	n-CEA (n = 20)	DCEAS (n = 23)	P value^b
Female, n (%)	13 (65.0)	14 (60.9)	0.780
Age (y)^a	66.5 ± 11.9	66.7 ± 13.6	0.969
Having previous stroke, n (%)	2 (10.0)	6 (26.1)	0.250
Post-stroke duration (m)^a	10.2 ± 14.9	7.7 ± 11.6	0.547
Duration of PSD onset (m)^a	4.9 ± 12.0	4.7 ± 10.7	0.953
Having antidepressant treatment at study entry, n (%)^c			0.222
Fluoxetine (FLX)	14 (70.0)	15 (65.2)
Other antidepressant agents^d	5 (25.0)	3 (13.0)
Previous acupuncture experience, n (%)	14 (70.0)	13 (56.5)	0.362
Baseline MMSE^a	23.5 ± 4.4	24.8 ± 4.8	0.354
Baseline HAMD-17^a	28.1 ± 7.0	25.8 ± 5.0	0.225
Baseline CGI-S^a	4.8 ± 0.8	4.9 ± 0.5	0.580
Baseline BI^a	37.8 ± 10.7	37.7 ± 11.3	0.975

^aContinuous data are expressed as mean ± SD.
^bStudent t test and Fisher Exact test were used to detect between-group differences of continuous and categorical data, respectively.
^cDuration of antidepressant treatment largely varied from 10 days to 2 years.
^dOther antidepressants were sertraline, citalopram, escitalopram, mirtazapine and flupentixol + melitracen.
BI Barthel Index, CGI-S Clinical Global Impression-Severity, DCEAS Dense Cranial Electroacupuncture Stimulation, HAMD-17 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, MMSE Mini-Mental Status Examination, n-CEA Non-invasive Cranial Electroacupuncture, PSD Post-stroke Depression.