Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies and basic information of included patients.
| Author year | Country | No. of patients | Gender (M/F) | Age | BMI | Severity | Intervention | Duration, frequency | Retaining (min) | Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T | C | ||||||||||
| Freire et al. 2007 [12] | Brazil | 24 T 12 C 12 |
/ | / | T 26.9 (26.6-28.0) C 28.6 (24.8-28.8) |
Moderate | Acupuncture | Receiving no treatment | 10 weeks, 1 per week | 30 | AHI, adverse effects |
| Chen et al. 2008 [18] | China | 66 T 44 C 22 |
T 28/16 C 16/6 |
T 55.44 ± 11.04 C 56.73 ± 10.21 |
T 26.24 ± 3.58 C 27.11 ± 2.94 |
Severe | Acupuncture | nCPAP | 20 days, 7 per week | 30 | AHI, LSaO2, |
| Li et al. 2017 [19] | China | 100 T 50 C 50 |
T 29/21 C 27/23 |
T 50.7 ± 3.5 C 51.1 ± 3.3 |
/ | Moderate | Acupuncture+nCPAP | nCPAP | 4 weeks, 7per week | 30 | AHI, ESS, LSaO2 |
| Pan 2012 [20] | China | 60 T 30 C 30 |
T 27/3 C 26/4 |
T 42.43 ± 10.36 C 41.73 ± 10.12 |
T 24.91 ± 2.45 C 25.04 ± 2.57 |
Mild | Electroacupuncture | CPAP | 20 days, 7 per week | 5 | AHI, LSaO2, |
| Song et al. 2015 [21] | China | 70 T 36 C 34 |
T 24/12 C 23/11 |
T 53.17 ± 10.2 C 52.71 ± 11.26 |
T 29.05 ± 4.03 C 29.13 ± 3.94 |
Severe | Electroacupuncture+nCPAP | nCPAP | 6 weeks, 3 per week | 30 | AHI, ESS, LSaO2, adverse effects |
| Su 2018 [22] | China | 60 T 30 C 30 |
T 19/11 C 18/12 |
T 50.34 (27-70) C 49.5 (28-70) |
/ | Mild | Acupuncture | nCPAP | 4 weeks, 7 per week | 30 | AHI, ESS |
| Xu et al. 2017 [23] | China | 80 T 40 C 40 |
T 23/17 C 24/16 |
T 51.8 ± 5.0 C 49.7 ± 5.4 |
T 28.8 ± 2.5 C 29.4 ± 2.4 |
Mild | Electroacupuncture+Chinese medicine | Chinese medicine | 8 weeks, 3 per week | 30 | AHI, LSaO2 |
| Zhang et al. 2014 [24] | China | 90 T 45 C 45 |
T 40/5 C 38/7 |
T 48.45 ± 9.76 C51.96 ± 9.87 |
/ | Moderate | Acupuncture | CPAP | 4 weeks,/ | 30 | AHI, adverse effects |
| Zhao 2015 [25] | China | 34 T 17 C 17 |
T 15/2 C 13/4 |
T 31.47 ± 6.21 C 32.76 ± 5.96 |
/ | Severe | Acupuncture | Western medicine | 4 weeks, 6 per week | 20 | AHI, ESS |
Abbreviations: T—treatment group; C—control group; nCPAP—nasal continuous positive airway pressure; AHI—apnea-hypopnea index; ESS—Epworth Sleepiness Scale; LSaO2—lowest oxygen saturation.