Table 1.
Basic characteristics of the included SRs.
| Study | Language | Number of studies (total sample) | Nature of acupuncture | Nature of control interventions | Time of acupuncture | Primary outcome | Methodological evaluation tool | Data analysis methods |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jang et al. (18) | English | 3 (400) | MA/EA | Sham acupuncture or no treatment or other active control | Menstrual and ovulatory cycles | CPR | Cochrane handbook | Not applicable |
| Smith et al. (19) | English | 20 (5,130) | MA/EA | Invasive sham control and no adjunctive treatment | Before and immediately after ET | CPR | Cochrane handbook | Meta-analysis |
| Gu et al. (20) | English | 31 (4,450) | TA/EA/AA/TEAS | No adjunctive treatment or sham acupuncture or western medication | During COH, during the pre-embryo transfer treatment, before and immediately after ET | CPR | Cochrane handbook | Not applicable |
| Xie et al. (21) | English | 27 (6,166) | MA/EA/AA | No adjunctive treatment or sham acupuncture | During COH, during the pre-embryo transfer treatment, before and immediately after ET | CPR/LBR | Cochrane handbook | Meta-analysis |
| Zhang et al. (22) | English | 31 (6,098) | TA/EA/AA/TEAS | No adjunctive treatment or sham acupuncture | Not reported | CPR/LBR/BPR/OPR/MR | Cochrane handbook | Meta-analysis |
| Schwarze et al. (30) | English | 6 (2,376) | TA | Sham acupuncture | 25 or 30 min before and after ET | CPR | Cochrane handbook | Meta-analysis |
| Jo and Lee (23) | English | 4 (430) | MA/EA | Sham acupuncture or no adjunctive treatment | Not reported | CPR/LBR | Cochrane handbook | Meta-analysis |
| Yang et al. (24) | Chinese | 32 (4,815) | MA/EA | No adjunctive treatment or sham acupuncture | Not reported | CPR/LBR | Cochrane handbook | Meta-analysis |
| Qian et al. (25) | English | 30 (6,344) | TA/EA/AA | No adjunctive treatment or sham acupuncture | Before and after ET, or around the time of oocyte aspiration | CPR/LBR/BPR/ OPR | Cochrane handbook | Meta-analysis |
| Shen et al. (26) | English | 21 (5,428) | MA/LA/EA | No adjunctive treatment or sham acupuncture | The time of ET, or 25 or 30 min before and after ET | CPR | Not reported | Meta-analysis |
| Manheimer et al. (31) | English | 16 (4,021) | TA | No adjunctive treatment or sham acupuncture | Before and after ET | CPR | Cochrane handbook | Meta-analysis |
| Qu et al. (32) | English | 17 (3,713) | TA/AA/EA/LA | No adjunctive treatment or sham acupuncture | Before and after ET | CPR/LBR/BPR/ OPR/MR | Cochrane handbook | Meta-analysis |
| Zheng et al. (27) | English | 24 (5,807) | MA/EA/LA | No adjunctive treatment or sham acupuncture | Before and after ET, or around the time of oocyte aspiration | CPR/LBR | Not reported | Meta-analysis |
| Yu (28) | Chinese | 10 (2,046) | TA/AA/EA | No adjunctive treatment or sham acupuncture | 25 or 30 min before and after ET | CPR/LBR/OPR | Jadad | Meta-analysis |
| Manheimer et al. (29) | English | 7 (1,366) | TA | Sham acupuncture or no adjunctive treatment | Before and after ET | CPR/LBR/OPR | Cochrane handbook | Meta-analysis |
| El-Toukhy et al. (33) | English | 13 (2,500) | MA/AA | No adjunctive treatment or sham acupuncture | 25 or 30 min before and after ET | CPR/ LBR | Cochrane handbook | Meta-analysis |
TA, traditional acupuncture; EA, electrical acupuncture; MA, manual acupuncture; AA, auricular acupuncture; TEAS, transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation; LA, laser acupuncture; CPR, clinical pregnancy rate; LBR, live birth rate; BPR, biochemical pregnancy rate; OPR, ongoing pregnancy rate; MR, miscarriage rate; COH, controlled ovarian hyperstimulation.