Primary and Secondary Efficacy Outcomes in the Intention-to-Treat Analysis
depression, Depressive
REMISSION
Abbreviations: NSA, nonspecific auricular acupuncture; RR, risk ratio; SA, specific auricular acupuncture.Effect size was calculated as RR for dichotomous data.Statistical significance was calculated with Fisher exact test.The primary outcome (improvement in depression symptoms) was defined as a reduction of 50% or more from baseline Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores. The number of cases and proportions are based on observed data.Depressive symptoms measured by PHQ-9 scores range from 0 (least) to 27 (greatest) symptom burden.Participants who achieved a score less than 5 on the PHQ-9, indicating symptom remission.