Table 2.
Certainty of evidences reviewed by GRADE.
| Study ID | Intervention | Control | Outcomes | Certainty of evidences |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linde et al. [7] | Acupuncture | No treatment/usual care | Headache frequency (after treatment) assessed with days per month; response (after treatment and follow-up) assessed with proportion of participants with at least 50% headache frequency reduction | Moderate |
| Headache frequency (follow-up) assessed with days per month | Low | |||
| Acupuncture | Sham acupuncture | Headache frequency (after treatment and follow-up) assessed with days per month; response (after treatment and follow-up) assessed with proportion of participants with at least 50% headache frequency reduction | Moderate | |
| Number of participants dropping out because of adverse effects | Low | |||
| Number of participants reporting adverse effects | High | |||
| Acupuncture | Prophylactic drug treatment | Headache frequency (after treatment and follow-up) assessed with days per month; response (after treatment and follow-up) assessed with proportion of participants with at least 50% headache frequency reduction; number of participants dropping out because of adverse effects; number of participants reporting adverse effects | Moderate | |
|
| ||||
| Chen [16] | Acupuncture | Drug treatment | Effective rate | Low∼moderate |
| Headache frequency, headache intensity, length of headache, combined symptoms, and symptom score | Moderate | |||
| Acupuncture | Other TCM treatment | Effective rate, headache frequency, and combined symptoms | Low | |
| Headache intensity and length of headache | Very low | |||
| Acupuncture | NR | VAS score and adverse events | Moderate | |
| TCD-MCA;TCD-ACA; TCD-PCA;TCD-VA | Low | |||
| TCD-BA | Very low | |||
|
| ||||
| Zhao [23] | Acupuncture | Drug treatment | Effective rate, pain index, headache intensity, length of headache, combined symptoms score, and symptom score | Very low |
| Acupuncture with acupuncture on ear | Drug treatment | Effective rate of mild patients | Low | |
| Effective rate, effective rate of moderate patients, effective rate of severe patients, headache score, β-EP, Vasopressin, NO, PGF, ET-1, and adverse effects. | Very low | |||
| Acupuncture with TCM drug treatment | Drug treatment | Effective rate | Very low | |
| Acupuncture with electrical stimulation | Drug treatment | Effective rate | Very low | |
| Acupuncture for bloodletting | TCM drug treatment | Effective rate, headache intensity, and length of headache | Very low | |
|
| ||||
| Pu [24] | Acupuncture | Drug treatment | Migraine days (5-6 months); migraine times (3-4 months); effective rate (5-6 months) | Moderate |
| Migraine days (3-4 months), migraine times (5-6 months), headache intensity (5-6 months), and number of use of analgesics (5-6 months) | Low | |||
| Headache intensity (3-4 months), number of use of analgesics (3-4 months), effective rate (3-4 months), adverse effects, and follow-up rate | Very low | |||
∗TCD: transcranial doppler; MCA: middle cerebral artery; ACA: anterior cerebral artery; posterior cerebral artery: VA: vertebral artery; BA: basilar artery; β-EP: beta-endorphin; NO: nitric oxide; PG: prostaglandin; ET: endothelin.