Table 2.
Systematic reviews of clinical trials of acupuncture & acupressure in rheumatic diseases, addiction, nausea and asthma
| Feature | ||||||
| Author Year | Indication | Controls | Studies | s | Results | Conclusion |
| 1 / 2 / 3 | ||||||
| / 4 / 5 | ||||||
| Rheumatic diseases | ||||||
| Berman 99 | fibromylgia | sham, other | 3 RCT, 3 CS | y / y / y / | Acupuncture more effective than sham for | Limited amount of evidence positive. |
| [28] | treatments | y / n | symptoms and global ratings | Further research needed | ||
| Ernst 97 [29] | osteoarthriti | sham, other | 13 RCT | y / p / n | Both sham and true acupuncture improve | The notion that acupuncture is |
| s | and no | / y / n | symptoms but better trials suggest no | superior to sham-needling is not | ||
| treatment | difference between the two | supported by data from controlled | ||||
| clinical trials | ||||||
| Lauten- | inflammator | sham, no | 2 RCT, 7 | n / p / n | Controlled trials contradictory, quality often | Acupuncture cannot be |
| schläger 97 | y | treatment, | CCT, 9 CS | / y / n | low | recommended for rheumatoid |
| [30] | rheumatoid | other acup. | arthritis, spondarthropathy, lupus | |||
| diseases | eryth., sclerodermia | |||||
| Jacobs 91** | rheumatic | sham, other | 23 CCT | p / y / n | 7 trials positive, 13 trials no effect over | No specific conclusion on |
| [31] | diseases | treatment | / y / n | placebo or control, 3 trials unclear | acupuncture (generally: no | |
| convincing evidence for alternative | ||||||
| therapies in rheumat.) | ||||||
| ter Riet 89 | rheumatoid | sham | 1 RCT, | y / p / y | Only 1 trial summarized; this found positive | No definitive conclusions possible |
| [32] | arthritis | 2CCT | / n / n | effects on pain but not on inflammation | ||
| Addiction | ||||||
| White | smoking | sham, other | 20 RCT | y / y / y / | Acupuncture vs. sham: OR for cessation | There is no evidence for the specific |
| 2000/99 | cessation | and no | y / y | 1.22 (95%CI 0.99–1.49) after treatment and | effectiveness of acupuncture in | |
| [33,34] | treatment | 1.02 (0.72–1.43) at 12 months. No difference | smoking cessation greater than a | |||
| compared to other interventions, better than | placebo effect | |||||
| no treatment | ||||||
| White 97 | smoking | sham | 7 RCT | y / y / y / | 6 of the 7 studies do not yield cessation rates | Acupuncture for smoking cessation |
| [35] | cessation | y / n | that are significantly different from sham | does not produce an effect greater | ||
| acupuncture | than placebo | |||||
| Law 95* [36] | smoking | sham, other | 8 RCT | p / p / n | Compared to control 3% (95%CI -1 to 6%) | Acupuncture is ineffective |
| cessation | and no | / n / y | more participants stopped smoking with | |||
| treatment | acupuncture | |||||
| ter Riet | A. smoking | sham, other | A. 13 RCT, 2 | y / p / y | A. 3 of 15 studies positive | Claims that acupuncture is effective |
| 90/89 [37,38 | cessat. | and no | CCT | / y / n | for the treatment of tobacco, alcohol | |
| 39] | B. alcohol | treatment, | B. 1RCT, 1 | B. 2 of 2 studies positive | and heroine addiction are not | |
| addict. | other acu | CCT | supported by sound clinical research | |||
| C. heroine | C. 5 CCT | C. 3 of 5 studies positive | ||||
| addict. | ||||||
| Nausea | ||||||
| Lee 99 [40] | postoperati | sham, other | 19 RCT | y / p / y | RR of early vomiting compared to | Acupuncture equivalent to commonly |
| ve nausea | and no | / y / y | antiemetics 0.89 (95%CI 0.47–1.67) and to | used antiemetic drugs. More effective | ||
| (prevention) | treatment | placebo 0.47 (0.34–0.64), late vomiting 0.81 | than placebo in first 6 h after surgery | |||
| (0.46–1.42) | in adults but no benefit observed in | |||||
| children | ||||||
| Aikins | nausea in | sham, no | 7 RCT | y / p / n | 6 of 7 P6 acupressure trials positive, 1 trial | Available evidence positive but |
| Murphy 99** | pregnancy | treatment | / y / no | on P6 electrical stimulation positive | equivocal | |
| [41] | ||||||
| Jewell 98* | nausea in | sham, no | 4 RCT | y / y / y / | 3 of 4 P6 acupressure trials positive, 2 cross- | Available evidence positive but |
| [42] | early | treatment | y / y | over trials excluded, best trial negative | equivocal | |
| pregnancy | ||||||
| Vickers 96 | nausea in | sham, other | 33 CCT | y / y / y / | 27 of 33 trials positive, 11 of 12 sham- | Except when administered under |
| [43] | surgery, | and no | y / n | controlled randomized trials positive | anesthesia P6 acupuncture point | |
| (stimulation | pregnancy, | treatment | stimulation seems to be an effective | |||
| at point P6) | chemother. | antiemetic technic | ||||
| Asthma | ||||||
| Linde 98 [44] | asthma | sham | 7 RCT | y / y / y / | Highly heterogeneous trials; two positive, five | It is not yet possible to make any |
| (acute | y / p | found no difference | recommendations about the practice | |||
| attack trials | of acupuncture in the treatment of | |||||
| excl.) | asthma | |||||
| Linde 96 [45] | asthma | sham, no, | 15 RCT | y / y / y / | Contradictory results, highly heterogeneous | There is insufficient data to draw |
| other | y / n | trials | reliable conclusions about the | |||
| treatment | effectiveness of acupuncture for | |||||
| asthma | ||||||
| Kleijnen 91 | asthma | unclear | 9 RCT, 4 | y / p / y | Quality low, contradictory results | Claims that acupuncture is effective |
| [46] & ter | CCT | / n / n | in the treatment of asthma are not | |||
| Riet 89 [47] | based on well performed clinical trials |
legend see table 1