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. 2014 Mar 1;20(3):147–161. doi: 10.1089/acm.2013.0238

Table 1.

Characteristics of 55 Randomized Controlled Trials Included in This Review

Ear-acupuncture sham control RCTs
Sham control type Condition Author, year Total sample size and dropout (N/n), county Analyzed sample size (T/C) No. of ear points (T/C) How to locate the ear points Unilateral or bilateral Duration (minutes) of each treatment session/no. of treatment sessions/ total treatment period Credibility of blinding of participants Primary outcome measures Results
Type I Anxiety Wang, 2001 59/NS US 32/27 3/3 NS Unilateral 30/1/30 min NS STAI score T>C
    Wang, 2004 67/0 US 34/33 3/3 NS Unilateral 30–80/1/30–80 min NS Mother's STAI score T>C
    Michalek-Sauberer, 2012 121/0 Austria 61/60 3/3 NS Unilateral 20/1/20 min Tested STAI score T>C
  Pain Wang, 2009a 159/7 US 58/54 3/3 NS Unilateral 1 wka/1/1 wk NS 30% Pain reduction rate T>C
    Allais, 2011 94/5 Italy 43/46 1/1 Using pain-pressure test, no sensation Bilateral NS/NS/NS NS Pain VAS T>C
  Drug dependence Avants, 2000 55/25 US 13/17 4/4 NS Bilateral 40/40/8 wks NS Urine drug-negative cases T>C
    Berman, 2004 158/82 Sweden 32/44 5/5 NS Bilateral 40/14/4 wks NS Urine drug-positive rate ND
    Bullock, 1999 236/NS US NS 5/5 Confirmed by galvanometric response Bilateral 45/28/4 wks NS Urine drug-positive rate ND
    Killeen, 2002 30/0 US 15/15 5/5 NS NS 40/1/40 min NS Cocaine craving score ND
    Lipton, 1994 192/42 US 73/77 4/4 NS NS 45/10/1 month NS Urine drug-positive rate ND
    Margolin, 2002 425/232 US 100/93 4/3 NS Bilateral 40/40/14 d NS Urine drug-positive rate ND
    Washburn, 1993 100/80 US 16/4 4/4 NS Bilateral 20–45/5/21 d NS Self-reported drug use T>C
  Smoking cessation Wu, 2007 131/13 Taiwan 59/59 4/4 NS NS 1 wka/8/8 wks NS Smoking cessation rate ND
  Alcohol dependence Bullock, 2002 503/150 US 132/133 4/4 Confirmed by galvanometric response NS 40/18/3 wks NS Breathe test, Alcohol Dependence Scale, Alcohol Severity Index ND
    Sapir-Weise, 1999 72/36 Sweden 21/15 3/3 NS Bilateral 45/20/10 wks NS Successful drinking pattern ND
  Overweight Shen, 2009 14/1 Taiwan 6/7 4/4 NS Unilateral 1 wka/4/4 wks NS Body weight “T>C”?
  Insomnia Sjoling, 2008 28/0 Sweden 14/14 5/5 NS Bilateral 45/15/6 wks NS Karolinska Sleep Diary T>C
Type II Pain Alimi, 2003 90/11 France 29/30 3/3 Using an electrical probe NS NS/2/60 d NS Pain VAS T>C
    Usichenko, 2005 61/7 Germany 28/23 5/5 NS NS 3 da/1/3 d Tested Pain medication use T>C
    Usichenko, 2007 120/15 Germany 29/25 4/4 NS NS 1 da/1/1 d NS Pain medication use T>C
    Wetzel, 2011 120/4 Germany 57/59 3/3 NS Unilateral 1 d a/1/1 d Tested Analgesic medication use T>C
  Anxiety in drug withdrawal Black, 2011 140/91 Canada 15/19 4/4 NS Bilateral 45/3/2 wks NS STAI score ND
Type III Pain Wang, 2012 60/0 China 31/29 4/4 NS Bilateral 3 da/1/3 d NS Pain medication use T>C
  Obesity Hsu, 2009 60/15 Taiwan 23/22 5/5 NS Unilateral NS/12/6 wks NS Body weight, BMI, WC and HC ND
Type I+III Anxiety Karst, 2007 38/0 Germany 19/19 3/2 NS NS Surgery period/1/ surgery period NS STAI scores, Anxiety VAS ND
Type I+IV Pain Simmons, 1993 40/0 US 10/10 5/5 NS Unilateral 15/1/15 min NS Pain threshold T>C
Ear-acupressure sham control RCTs
Sham control method Condition Author, year Total sample size and dropout (N/n), county Analyzed sample size (T/C) No. of ear points (T/C) How to locate the ear points Unilateral or bilateral Each pressing session (min), no. of pressing sessions each d Total treatment period Credibility of blinding of participants Primary outcome measures Results
Type I Anxiety and pain Barker, 2006 38/0 Austria 18/20 3/1 NS Bilateral Ambulance transport/1/ Ambulance transport NS Anxiety VAS and Pain VAS T>C
  Anxiety Kober, 2003 36/0 Austria 17/19 1/1 NS Bilateral Ambulance transport/1/ Ambulance transport NS Anxiety VAS T>C
    Mora, 2007 100/0 Italy 50/50 1/1 NS Bilateral Ambulance transport/1/ Ambulance transport NS Anxiety VAS T>C
  Insomnia Pi, 2002 300/47 China 132/121 5/3 NS Bilateral 3/3 8 wks NS PSQI score T>C reconfirmed
  Nausea and vomiting Yeh, 2012 20/0 Taiwan 10/10 5/4 Using an electrical detector NS 3/3 7 d NS Morrow Assessment of Nausea and Emetics ND
  COPD Cao, 2012 30/0 China 15/15 5/5 NS NS NS/3 20 d NS Lung function (FEV1, FEV1/FVC) T>C reconfirmed
  Allergic rhinitis Xue, 2011 63/8 Australia 31/32 5/5 NS Bilateral 1–2/3 8 wks Tested Symptom score and quality of life score T>C
Type II Drug dependence Tian, 2006 17/4 US 5/4 5/2 NS Bilateral 1–2/when craving 6 wks Tested SCL-20 Depression Scale “T>C”?
  Insomnia Ye, 2011 64/0 China 32/32 7/7 NS Unilateral 3–5/5 NS NS PSQI score<7 rate T>C
Type III Primary dysmenorrhea Wang, 2009 74/3 Taiwan 36/35 3/3 NS NS 15/3 20 d NS Menstrual Distress Questionnaire T>C
  Pain Chang, 2012 62/0 Taiwan 31/31 2/2 NS NS 3/3 3 d NS Pain score, medication use T>C
  Anxiety Li, 2011 62/0 China 31/31 7/7; 3/3 Using an electrical detector Bilateral 3–5/3–5 30 d NS Anxiety score T>C
    Kao, 2012 50/6 Taiwan 25/19 4/4 NS Bilateral No pressing 8 wks NS Medication use T>C reconfirmed
  Drug dependence Wei, 2011 60/0 China 30/30 6/6 Using an electrical detector Bilateral 5/3 30 d NS Symptom score Chinese version T>C
Type III Obesity Hsieh, 2010 100/16 Taiwan 27/28 4/4 NS Bilateral 5/3 6 wks NS Kupperman scale, hormone test T>C
  Menstrual disorders Jin, 2011 276/21 China 126/129 4/4 NS Bilateral 5/3 6 wks NS Kupperman scale, hormone test T>C
Type I+III Obesity Abdi, 2012 204/35 Iran 86/83 6/4 NS Bilateral 20 s/before eating 6 wks NS Body weight, BMI T>C reconfirmed
Electro-ear-acupuncture RCTs
Sham control method Condition Author, year Total sample size and dropout (N/n), county Analyzed sample size (T/C) No. of ear points (T/C) How to locate the ear points Unilateral or bilateral Duration of each treatment session/ no. of treatment sessions/ total treatment period Credibility of blinding Primary outcome measures Results
Type I Nausea and vomiting Li, 2012 240/0 China 80/80 1/1 NS NS Surgery period/1/ surgery period NS Percentage of patients who had nausea and vomiting T>C
Type IV Pain Michalek-Sauberer, 2007 113/39 Austria 48/26 3/3 Using a point-finding device Unilateral 48 h/1/48 h NS Medication use ND
    Sator-Katzenschlager, 2004 61/6 Austria 31/30 3/3 Using an electrical detector Unilateral 48 h/6/6 wks NS Reduction of pain intensity T>C
    Sator-K Katzenschlager, 2003 23/2 Austria 11/10, 4/4 Using an electrical detector Unilateral 48 h/6/6 wks NS Reduction of pain intensity T>C
    Sator-K Katzenschlager, 2006 94/1 Austria 32/32 3/3 Using an electrical detector Unilateral Surgery period/1/ surgery period NS Pain VAS T>C
    Holzer, 2011 40/0 Austria 20/20 3/3 NS Unilateral 72 h/1/72 h NS Overall pain score ND
  Nausea and vomiting Li, 2012 240/0 China 80/80 1/1 NS NS Surgery period/1/ surgery period NS Nausea rate T>C
Type II+IV Smoking cessation Waite, 1998 78/0 US 40/38 1/1 Using an electrical detector Bilateral 1 needling session+pellets/pellets remained as long as being helpful NS Smoking cessation rate ND
  Smoking cessation White, 1998 76/24 Germany 27/25 1/1 NS Bilateral 20 min/3/7 d NS Withdrawal symptom score ND
Laser-ear-stimulation RCTs
Sham control method Condition Author, year Total sample size and dropout (N/n), county Analyzed sample size (T/C) No. of ear points (T/C) How to locate the ear points Unilateral or bilateral Duration of each treatment session/ no. of treatment sessions/total treatment period Credibility of blinding Primary outcome measures Results
Type IV Pain Mazzetto, 2007 48/NS Brazil 24/24 1/1 NS Bilateral NS/8/4 wks NS Pain VAS “T>C”?
  Alcohol withdrawal Trumpler, 2003 49/1 Switzerland 17/16 2–10 (median 8) Using an electrical detector NS 30–45 min/1 per d until withdrawal NS Duration of withdrawal ND
  Smoking cessation Cai, 2000 268/60 Singapore 101/107 4/4 NS Unilateral 4 min/12/4 wks NS Smoking cessation rate ND
  Balance control Bergamaschi, 2011 25/0 Italy 9/16 NS Using an electrical detector NS 15 min/1/15 min NS Balance test ND
a

Needles remained in ear-acupuncture treatment.

Results: T>C: Between-group difference reported by the study (treatment group significantly more effective than control group); “T>C”?: Within-group difference reported by the study and no data provided for further analysis; T>C reconfirmed: Within-group difference reported by the study and between-group difference was reconfirmed in this review.

T, treatment group; C, control group; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; NS, not stated; ND, no differences between treatment and control groups; VAS, Visual Analogue Scale; BMI, body–mass index; WC, waist circumference; STAI, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 s; HC, hip circumference; FVC, forced vital capacity; PSQI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; SCL-20, The 20-item Symptom Checklist Depression Scale; RCTs, randomized controlled trials.