Table 4.
Study characteristics extracted from 54 studies.
| Study | Total N | Party blinded | Time of blinding assessment (days from beginning of study) | Deqi assessment (yES/nO) | Sham device | Penetration of sham | Study participant diagnosis | Days since last acupuncture experience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shen and Goddard 2007 [53] | 15 | Staff + subject | 0 | NO | C | NP | Chronic TM pain | Unknown |
| Itoh et al. 2006 [30] | 19 | Staff + subject | 21 | NO | C | NP | Chronic LBP | Unknown |
| Nabeta and Kawakita 2002 [52] |
34 | Subject | 28 | NO | C | NP | Chronic neck and shoulder pain | Unknown |
| Tough et al. 2009 [43] | 37 | Subject | 14 | NO | C | NP | Whiplash | Unknown |
| Fink et al. 2001 [27] | 64 | Staff + subject | 14 | NO | C | NP | Tension headache | Unknown |
| Shen et al. 2009 [36] | 12 | Staff + subject | 0 | YES | C | NP | Chronic myofacial pain of jaw muscles | >365 |
| Kreiner et al. 2010 [61] | 32 | Staff + subject | 0 | NO | C | NP | Normal | >365 |
| Lao et al. 1999 [50] | 39 | Staff + subject | 0.2 | YES | C | NP | After oral surgery Pain | >365 |
| Goddard et al. 2005 [28] | 49 | Subject | 0 | YES | C | NP | Normal | >365 |
| Jubb et al. 2008 [22] | 51 | Subject | 63 | YES | C | NP | Knee OA | >365 |
| Itoh et al. 2008 [31] | 24 | Staff + subject | 35 | NO | C | NP | Knee OA | 180 |
| Deng et al. 2008 [16] | 53 | Subject | 30 | NO | C | NP | After thoracotomy Pain | 42 |
| Takakura and Yajima 2007 [55] |
60 | Staff + subject | 0 | NO | C | NP | Normal | 0 |
| Takakura and Yajima 2008 [56] |
114 | Staff + subject | 0 | YES | C | NP | Normal | 0 |
| Smith et al. 2007 [38] | 27 | Staff + subject | 28 | NO | P | NP | TMJ | Unknown |
| Tan et al. 2009 [57] | 20 | Subject | 0 | NO | P | NP | Normal | >365 |
| Kennedy et al. 2008 [9] | 45 | Subject | 42 | NO | P | NP | Acute LBP | >365 |
| Park et al. 2002 [34] | 58 | Staff + subject | 84 | NO | P | NP | Acute stroke | >365 |
| Park et al. 2005 [35] | 94 | Staff + subject | 14 | NO | P | NP | Stroke | >365 |
| Enblom et al. 2011 [26] | 190 | Staff + subject | 35 | NO | P | NP | Radiation-induced nausea | 365 |
| Tsukayama et al. 2006 BL23 [58] |
20 | Staff + subject | 0 | NO | P | NP | Normal | 0 |
| Tsukayama et al. 2006 L14 [58] |
20 | Staff + subject | 0 | NO | P | NP | Normal | 0 |
| Chae et al. 2011 [60] | 28 | Subject | 0 | NO | P | NP | Normal | 0 |
| Shin et al. 2010 [19] | 42 | Staff + subject | 21 | YES | PEN | P | Dry eye | Unknown |
| Tong et al. 2010 [42] | 63 | Subject | 15 | YES | PEN | P | DPN | ~50% |
| Zaslawski et al. 1997 [20] | 64 | Subject | 28 | YES | PEN | P | Stress | ~50% |
| Harris et al. 2005 [49] | 76 | Staff + subject | 21 | NO | PEN | P | Fibromyaligia | >365 |
| Haake et al. 2007 [8] | 692 | Staff + subject | 168 | NO | PEN | P | Chronic LBP | >365 |
| Linde et al. 2005 [51] | 201 | Staff + subject | 168 | YES | PEN | P | Migraine HA | 365 |
| Brinkhaus et al. 2006 [25] | 205 | Subject | 56 | YES | PEN | P | Chronic LBP | 365 |
| Endres et al. 2007 [17] | 403 | Staff + subject | 180 | YES | PEN | P | Tension headache | 365 |
| Alecrim-Andrade et al. 2006 [23] | 24 | Staff + subject | 84 | YES | PEN | P | Migraine HA | 84 |
| Alecrim-Andrade et al. 2008 [48] | 36 | Subject | 84 | YES | PEN | P | Migraine HA | 84 |
| Lee et al. 2011 [33] | 35 | Staff + subject | 70 | NO | PEN | P | Chronic pelvic pain | 42 |
| Lee et al. 2008 [32] | 89 | Subject | 70 | NO | PEN | P | Chronic prostatitis | 42 |
| White et al. 2007 [47] | 37 | Subject | 0 | YES | S | NP | Chronic Pain/Normal | Unknown |
| So et al. 2009 [39] | 370 | Staff + subject | 0 | NO | S | NP | Infertility | Unknown |
| Wayne et al. 2008 [62] | 14 | Staff + subject | 28 | NO | S | NP | Endometriosis | >365 |
| Streitberger et al. 2008 [54] | 20 | Subject | 0 | NO | S | NP | Normal | >365 |
| Wasan et al. 2010 [59] | 40 | Subject | 0 | YES | S | NP | Chronic LBP | >365 |
| Barlas et al. 2006 [6] | 48 | Staff + subject | 0 | YES | S | NP | Normal | >365 |
| Streitberger and Kleinhenz 1998 [40] | 60 | Subject | 0 | NO | S | NP | Normal | >365 |
| Enblom et al. 2008 [7] | 80 | Subject | 0 | NO | S | NP | Normal | >365 |
| Kaptchuk et al. 2008 [15] | 148 | Staff + subject | 42 | NO | S | NP | IBS | >365 |
| Goldman et al. 2008 [29] | 118 | Staff + subject | 28 | YES | S | NP | Arm pain | 365 |
| Venzke et al. 2010 [44] | 51 | Subject | 168 | YES | S | NP | Hot flashes | 180 |
| Streitberger et al. 2004 [41] | 212 | Staff + subject | 1 | YES | S | NP | postoperative nausea | 180 |
| Deng et al. 2007 [21] | 67 | Subject | 42 | YES | S | NP | Hot flashes | 42 |
| White et al. 1996 [45] | 9 | Staff + subject | 42 | NO | T | NP | Tension headache | >365 |
| Harris et al. 2009 [18] | 20 | Staff + subject | 0 | NO | T | NP | Fibromyalgia | >365 |
| White et al. 2000 [46] | 44 | Staff + subject | 7 | YES | T | NP | Tension headache | >365 |
| Sherman et al. 2002 [37] | 52 | Subject | 0 | NO | T | NP | Chronic LBP | >365 |
| Assefi et al. 2005 [14] | 75 | Staff + subject | 84 | NO | T | NP, P | Fibromyalgia | >365 |
| Berman et al. 2004 [24] | 283 | Subject | 182 | YES | T | NP, P | Knee OA | >365 |
Sham devices: C: custom sham, P: park sham, PEN: penetrating sham, S: streitberger sham, and T: toothpick.