Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Psychiatry. Nov 19, 2026; 16(11): 123973
Published online Nov 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.123973
Published online Nov 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.123973
Long-term effects of combined laser acupuncture on depressive symptoms, disease activity and C-reactive protein in rheumatoid arthritis patients
Wei-Chiao Chang, Department of Chinese Medicine, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi 62247, Taiwan
Wen-Wei Lin, Wei-Jen Chen, Graduate Institute of Sports Science, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan 333325, Taiwan
Ying-To Hsu, Ming-Chi Lu, Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi 62247, Taiwan
Hanoch Livneh, Rehabilitation Counseling Program, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97207, United States
Ming-Chi Lu, School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien 97050, Taiwan
Wei-Jen Chen, School of Post-Baccalaureate Chinese Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien 970374, Taiwan
Wei-Jen Chen, Center of Sports Medicine, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi 62247, Taiwan
Tzung-Yi Tsai, Department of Medical Research, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi 62247, Taiwan
Tzung-Yi Tsai, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70428, Taiwan
Co-corresponding authors: Wei-Jen Chen and Tzung-Yi Tsai.
Author contributions: Chang WC , Lin WW and Hsu YT contributed equally to this work; Chang WC, Lin WW, Chen WJ and Tsai TY were responsible for conceived and designed the experiments; Chang WC, Lin WW, Hsu YT, Chen WJ, and Tsai TY wrote the paper; Chang WC, Lu MC, Chen WJ, and Tsai TY were responsible for contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools; Lin WW, Hsu YT, Livneh H and Tsai TY were responsible for analyzed the data; Chen WJ and Tsai TY played important roles and contributed equally in the experimental design as co-corresponding authors; all the authors approved the contents of the submitted article, gave final approval to the version to be published and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
AI contribution statement: No AI tools were used in the preparation of the manuscript.
Supported by National Science and Technology Council, No. NSTC-113-2314-B-303-008.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board and Ethics Committee of the teaching hospital (No. B11204006).
Clinical trial registration statement: The study protocol has registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06791980).
Informed consent statement: All participants provided informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: Due to legal restrictions imposed by the government of Taiwan in relation to the “Personal Information Protection Act”, data cannot be made publicly available. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to the corresponding authors.
Corresponding author: Tzung-Yi Tsai, PhD, Assistant Professor, Researcher, Department of Medical Research, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, No. 2 Minsheng Road, Chiayi 62247, Taiwan. dm732024@tzuchi.com.tw
Received: June 3, 2026
Revised: July 24, 2026
Accepted: August 28, 2026
Published online: November 19, 2026
Processing time: 149 Days and 3 Hours
Revised: July 24, 2026
Accepted: August 28, 2026
Published online: November 19, 2026
Processing time: 149 Days and 3 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This quasi-experimental study outlines the multi-dimensional benefits of the laser acupuncture treatment program for individuals with rheumatoid arthritis, including depressive symptoms, disease activity and inflammatory markers. Notably, monitoring participant follow-up used herein can robustly aid in interpretation of a trial’s results.