Department of Clinical Research on Rehabilitation, Korea National Rehabilitation Research Institute, 58 Samgaksan-Ro, Gangbuk-Gu, Seoul, 142-070, Republic of Korea.
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2024 Jun 5;24(1):215. doi: 10.1186/s12906-024-04506-1.
Acupuncture is widely used worldwide; however, studies on its effectiveness have been impeded by limitations regarding the design of appropriate control groups. In clinical research, noninvasive sham acupuncture techniques can only be applied through validation studies. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to evaluate the scope of existing literature on this topic to identify trends.
We queried Pubmed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases from inception to July 2022 for relevant articles. Author names were used to identify additional relevant articles. Two independent reviewers assessed the identified articles based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The following data were extracted: study design, information regarding acupuncturists and participants, general and treatment-related characteristics of the intervention and control groups, participants' experience of acupuncture, and research findings.
The database query yielded 673 articles, of which 29 articles were included in the final review. Among these, 18 involved the use of one of three devices: Streitberger (n = 5), Park (n = 7), and Takakura (n = 6) devices. The remaining 11 studies used other devices, including self-developed needles. All the included studies were randomized controlled trials. The methodological details of the included studies were heterogeneous with respect to outcomes assessed, blinding, and results.
Sham acupuncture validation studies have been conducted using healthy volunteers, with a focus on blind review and technological developments in sham acupuncture devices. However, theren may be language bias in our findings since we could not query Chinese and Japanese databases due to language barriers. There is a need for more efforts toward establishing control groups suitable for various acupuncture therapy interventions. Moreover, there is a need for more rigorous sham acupuncture validation studies, which could lead to higher-quality clinical studies.
针灸在全球范围内广泛应用；然而，由于设计合适的对照组存在局限性，其有效性研究受到阻碍。在临床研究中，非侵入性的假针灸技术只能通过验证研究来应用。因此，本系统评价旨在评估关于这一主题的现有文献范围，以确定趋势。
我们从建库到 2022 年 7 月，在 Pubmed、EMBASE 和 Cochrane 中央对照试验注册库中查询了相关文章。通过作者姓名来确定其他相关文章。两名独立的审查员根据纳入和排除标准评估确定的文章。提取的数据包括：研究设计、针灸师和参与者的信息、干预组和对照组的一般和治疗相关特征、参与者的针灸体验和研究结果。
数据库查询产生了 673 篇文章，其中 29 篇文章被纳入最终综述。其中，18 项研究使用了三种设备之一：Streitberger（n=5）、Park（n=7）和 Takakura（n=6）设备。其余 11 项研究使用了其他设备，包括自制针。所有纳入的研究都是随机对照试验。纳入研究的方法细节在评估结果、盲法和结果方面存在异质性。
已经使用健康志愿者进行了假针灸验证研究，重点是盲法审查和假针灸设备的技术发展。然而，由于语言障碍，我们无法查询中文和日文数据库，因此我们的发现可能存在语言偏倚。需要更多的努力来建立适合各种针灸治疗干预的对照组。此外，需要进行更严格的假针灸验证研究，这可能会导致更高质量的临床研究。
