Acupuncture Treament in Children With Tic Disorders

May 8, 2026 updated by: Meizhou People's Hospital

Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Tic Disorders in Children, Based on MR-DTI

This study intends to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture on tic disorders in Children; and to explore the underlying mechanism of acupuncture intervention on tic disorders based on Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Tensor Imaging(MR-DTI).

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

102

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Must meet the diagnostic criteria for Provisional Tic Disorder (PTD) or Persistent (Chronic) Motor or Vocal Tic Disorder (CTD)
  • Right-handed children aged 5-18 years
  • Have not previously received systematic acupuncture treatment and are able to adhere to acupuncture treatment for ≥ 2 months
  • Complete medical records available
  • Not currently participating in any other clinical study
  • Voluntary participants, with the signature and consent of their guardians, and children aged 8 and above obtaining their own informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of hepatolenticular degeneration (Wilson's disease), rheumatic chorea, childhood migraine, epilepsy, intellectual disability, schizophrenia, or other related conditions
  • Presence of organic neurological diseases or other severe conditions significantly impacting quality of life
  • Recent use of centrally-acting medications
  • Inability to regularly complete the acupuncture treatment regimen
  • Inability to undergo the MR-DTI examination
  • Refusal to sign the written informed consent form
  • Inability of the child or guardian to cooperate during the treatment and follow-up process

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Acupuncture group
Behavioral intervention and acupuncture
Other: Acupuncture
The Acupuncture point prescription is as follows: Sishencong (EX-HN1), bilateral Shuaigu (GB8), bilateral Yangbai (GB14), bilateral Sibai (ST2), bilateral Fengchi (GB20), bilateral Fenglong (ST40), bilateral Hegu (LI4), and bilateral Taichong (LR3). Points will be selected based on Traditional Chinese Medicine syndrome differentiation, with location standardized according to the 2006 National Standard of the People's Republic of China (GB/T 12346-2006), "Nomenclature and Location of Acupuncture Points." After routine skin disinfection, Sishencong will be obliquely needled to a depth of 0.5 cun, and the remaining points will be perpendicularly needled to a depth of 1 cun. The twirling manipulation will be applied until the needling sensation (Deqi) is locally achieved. Needles will be retained for 30 minutes. Treatment will be administered once daily, 5 times per week, for a total of 8 weeks (40 sessions).
Behavioral: Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT)
Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT) is recommended as a first-line intervention by organizations such as the American Academy of Neurology.It consists of several core components: Psychoeducation,Awareness Training,Competing Response Training,Function-Based Intervention and Social Support and Relapse Prevention
Other: Waiting for acupuncture group
Behavioral intervention
Behavioral: Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT)
Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT) is recommended as a first-line intervention by organizations such as the American Academy of Neurology.It consists of several core components: Psychoeducation,Awareness Training,Competing Response Training,Function-Based Intervention and Social Support and Relapse Prevention
No Intervention: Healthy control group
Healthy participants without intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Yale Global Tic Severity Scal(YGTSS)
Time Frame: baseline,4 weeks,8 weeks,6 months
The Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) Score is designed to assess the severity of symptoms in children with TD by scoring the type of tics, frequency of tics, intensity of tics, complexity of tics, degree of interference with normal behavior, and degree of impairment of social functioning in the child, with a total score ranging from 0-75, with higher scores indicating greater severity of the child's condition.
baseline,4 weeks,8 weeks,6 months
MR-DTI
Time Frame: baseline,8 weeks
Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Tensor Imaging(MR-DTI).Scanning will employ a single-shot echo-planar imaging sequence with 15 diffusion gradient directions. Software such as DTI Studio will be used to calculate the Mean Diffusivity (MD), Fractional Anisotropy (FA), and Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) values for each subject's corpus callosum, bilateral globus pallidus, thalamus, putamen, and caudate nucleus.
baseline,8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pediatric quality of life inventory
Time Frame: baseline,4 weeks,8 weeks,6 months
Pediatric quality of life inventory 4.0(PedsQL 4.0) is composed of 23 items comprising 4 dimensions: : 1) Physical Functioning (8 items), 2) Emotional Functioning (5 items), 3) Social Functioning (5 items), and 4) School Functioning (5 items). Higher scores indicate better HRQOL with a range of 0-100.
baseline,4 weeks,8 weeks,6 months
Traditional Chinese Medicine Symptom Score
Time Frame: baseline,4 weeks,8 weeks,6 months
Traditional Chinese medicine symptom score is used to assess overall health status, including aspects such as mood, appearance, sleep, diet, and gastrointestinal function. Higher scores indicate more severe symptoms with a range of 0-100.
baseline,4 weeks,8 weeks,6 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Acupuncture-Related Adverse Events
Time Frame: 8 weeks
All adverse events occurring during the intervention will be recorded
8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Meizhou People's Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 29, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 8, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 15, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 8, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • MZPH202604001

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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