BACKGROUND: The combination of electric acupuncture and clomipramine is the behavior attempt in the integration of Chinese and western medicine in the treatment of obsession.OBJECTIVE: To probe into the long-term therapeutic effects of the combination of acupuncture and medication on obsession and its influence on social functional recovery.DESIGN: Controlled study with observation in which the patients were taken as the objects.SETTING: Wards of a municipal mental hygiene center PARTICIPANTS: The research was performed in the Fifth People's Hospital of Zibo. Totally 30 inpatients were selected from January 1997 to October 2003 in the hospital, aged varied from 18 to 57 years, at the average of (33 ± 12) years. Thirty patients were divided randomly into two groups,named as experimental group, 15 cases with 8 males and 7 females; and the control group, 15 cases with 7 males and 8 females.METHODS: In the experimental group, electric acupuncture was applied on neiguan, renzhong and chengjiang, together with clomipramine orally. In the control group, only clomipramine was applied. The therapeutic effects and side effects were evaluated with Y-Bocs, TESS and clinical evaluation standards successively before the treatment, at the 4th, 6th and 8th weekends after treatment and by 6 months following visits. SDSS evaluation was carried on at the 8th week of the treatment.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comparisons of evaluating results with Y-Bocs, TESS and SDSS.RESULTS: At the 4th, 6th and 8th weekends of the treatment, the score-reducing rates of Y-Bocs in the experimental group were higher than those in the control group, but the difference was not significant ( P ＞ 0.05). The scores of TESSin the control group were remarkably higher than those in the experimental group( P ＜ 0. 01 ) . Factor scores of "profession and work" in SDSS in the experimental group were lower than that in the control group ( P ＜ 0.05 ).CONCLUSION: Electric acupuncture on neiguan, renzhong and chengjiang reduces the side effect of clomipramine in the treatment of obsession and improve the living quality of the patients with obsession.