Table 1.
Characteristics of included systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials.
| References | Country | Quality assessment tools | Number of RCTs (number of participants) | Type of disease | Intervention | Comparator | Outcomes | Meta-analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peng et al. (2007) | English | Author defined | — | Vascular dementia | — | — | — | N |
| Guo et al. (2008) | Chinese | Jadad | 22 (1,378) | Alzheimer | EA | Nimodipine | General effectiveness, MMSE | Y |
| Lee et al. (2008) | English | Jadad | 3 (166) | Alzheimer | EA | Nimodipine, Huperzine, Perphenazine | MMSE, ADLs | Y |
| Zhu and Zhang (2009) | Chinese | Jadad | 7 (517) | Vascular dementia | EA | Nimodipine,Duxil | General effectiveness, MMSE | Y |
| Yuan and Zhang (2010) | Chinese | Jadad | 9 (615) | Post-stroke CI | Acupuncture + Nimodipine | CFT | MMSE | Y |
| Liu et al. (2011) | Chinese | Jadad | 6 (330) | MCI | Acupuncture + Nimodipine/Donepezil/ Duxil | Nimodipine, Donepezil, Duxil | General effectiveness, MMSE | Y |
| Tian et al. (2012) | Chinese | Cochrane Handbook | 8 (339) | Alzheimer | Acupuncture | Nimodipine, Donepezil, Duxil | MMSE | N |
| Cao et al. (2013) | English | Cochrane Handbook | 12 (691) | Vascular MCI | BA + CFT | Nimodipine, Donepezil, CFT | MMSE | Y |
| Fang et al. (2014) | English | Cochrane Handbook | 21 (1,421) | Post-stroke CI | Acupuncture + CFT | CFT | MMSE | Y |
| Zhao et al. (2014) | Chinese | Jadad | 16 (1,103) | Post-stroke CI | EA/Acupuncture/SA + CFT/Nimodipine | Nimodipine, CFT | General effectiveness, MMSE, ADL | Y |
| Cao et al. (2014) | Chinese | Cochrane Handbook | 5 (233) | Alzheimer | Acupuncture | Nimodipine, Donepezil, Duxil | MMSE, ADLs | Y |
| Hu et al. (2014) | Chinese | Cochrane Handbook | (1,092) | MCI | Acupuncture + Nimodipine | Nimodipine, CFT | General effectiveness, MMSE | Y |
| Zhou et al. (2015) | English | Cochrane Handbook | 10 (585) | Alzheimer | Acupuncture, EA | Nimodipine | MMSE, ADLs | Y |
| Liu et al. (2015) | Chinese | Jadad | 8 (578) | Post-stroke CI | EA | CFT | General effectiveness, MMSE | N |
| Mai and Zheng (2015) | Chinese | Jadad | 5 (565) | MCI | EA | CFT | General effectiveness, MMSE, MoCA | Y |
| Lu et al. (2015) | Chinese | Cochrane Handbook | 8 (720) | Ischemic type CI | Acupuncture + CT | CT | General effectiveness, MMSE, ADLs | Y |
| Zhang et al. (2015) | Chinese | Cochrane Handbook | 11 (789) | Post-stroke CI | Acupuncture + CFT | CFT | General effectiveness, MMSE, ADLs | Y |
| Xu and Xie (2015) | Chinese | Jadad | 10 (652) | Alzheimer | BA + Nimodipine | Nimodipine | General effectiveness, MMSE, ADLs | Y |
| Deng and Wang (2016) | English | Cochrane Handbook | 5 (568) | Amnestic MCI | SEA | Nimodipine | General effectiveness, MMSE | Y |
| Xiong et al. (2016) | Chinese | Cochrane Handbook | 13 (1,113) | Post-stroke CI | SA + CT | CT | General effectiveness, MMSE | Y |
| Lin et al. (2016) | Chinese | NR | 19 (1,275) | Post-stroke CI | Acupuncture | CT | MMSE, ADLs, MoCA | Y |
| Zou et al. (2016) | Chinese | Cochrane Handbook | 8 (349) | Alzheimer | Acupuncture | Huperzine, Nimodipine | General effectiveness, MMSE, ADLs, HDS | Y |
| Zhou et al. (2017) | English | Cochrane Handbook | 15 (1,217) | Alzheimer | Acupuncture + HM | Huperzine, Hydergine, Donepezil | General effectiveness, MMSE, ADLs | Y |
| Wan et al. (2017) | Chinese | Jadad | 6 (435) | Vascular dementia | EA | Nimodipine | General effectiveness, MMSE, ADLs | Y |
| Zhan et al. (2017) | Chinese | Cochrane Handbook | 14 (896) | Post-stroke CI | EA + Nimodipine/CFT | Nimodipine/CFT | General effectiveness, MMSE, MoCA | Y |
| Lin et al. (2017) | Chinese | Cochrane Handbook | 13 (751) | Alzheimer | Acupuncture | TCM | General effectiveness, MMSE | Y |
| Kwon et al. (2018) | English | Cochrane Handbook | 9 (677) | CI | AA | HM/Nimodipine, Almitrine-Raubasine | General effectiveness, MMSE, ADLs | Y |
| Wu et al. (2018) | Chinese | Jadad | 9 (656) | Vascular dementia | EA | Nimodipine | General effectiveness, MMSE, ADLs | Y |
| Liu et al. (2018) | Chinese | Cochrane Handbook | 22 (1,637) | Post-stroke CI | EA + CT + CFT | CT + CFT | MMSE | Y |
| Li et al. (2018) | Chinese | Cochrane Handbook | 10 (666) | MCI | Acupuncture + Nimodipine | Nimodipine | General effectiveness, MMSE, ADLs, MoCA | Y |
| Kim et al. (2019) | English | Cochrane Handbook | 5 (257) | MCI | EA | Nimodipine, Donepezil | MMSE, MoCA | Y |
| Wang et al. (2019) | Chinese | Cochrane Handbook | 8 (472) | Alzheimer | Acupuncture + Donepezil/ Huperzine | Donepezil, Huperzine | MMSE, ADLs | Y |
| Li et al. (2020) | English | Cochrane Handbook | 15 (1,049) | MCI | Acupuncture + Nimodipine | Nimodipine/ Donepezil/CFT | General effective, MMSE, MoCA, ADLs | Y |
| Wang et al. (2020) | English | Cochrane Handbook | 25 (2,035) | Alzheimer | Acupuncture/EA | Nimodipine/ Donepezil/Huperzine | MMSE, ADLs, HDS | Y |
| Tang et al. (2020) | English | Cochrane Handbook | 16 (1,241) | Post-operative CI | Acupuncture | CFT | Incidence of post-operative CI, MMSE | Y |
NR, not reported; RCT, randomized controlled trial; CI, cognitive impairment; MCI, mild cognitive impairment; EA, electroacupuncture; CFT, cognitive function training; AA, auricular acupuncture; HM, herbal medicine; SA, scalp acupuncture; SEA, scalp electroacupuncture; CT, conventional treatment; BA, body acupuncture; HDS, Hasegawa Dementia Scale; MoCA, Montreal Cognitive Assessment; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination; TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine; ADL, activity of daily living; Y, Yes; N, No.