Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17955168›Full record

Trial reportThe journal of headache and pain2007

Acupuncture for tension-type headache: a multicentre, sham-controlled, patient-and observer-blinded, randomised trial.

Heinz G Endres, Gabriele Böwing, Hans-Christoph Diener, Stefan Lange, Christoph Maier, Albrecht Molsberger, Michael Zenz, Andrew J Vickers, Martin Tegenthoff

Open access · hybridAbstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in The journal of headache and pain, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers, 17 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
57citing papers in PubMed, 17 pooled it
31.8field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

57 citing papers in PubMed, 17 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 137 citations in OpenAlex.

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  7. Headaches in adults in supplementary health: management.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2024
    Guideline
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  14. Acupuncture for the prevention of tension-type headache.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016
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  17. Acupuncture for tension-type headache.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2009
    Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Heinz G EndresDepartment of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitaetsstr 150, D-44801 Bochum, Germany. heinz.endres@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Gabriele Böwing
Hans-Christoph Diener
Stefan Lange
Christoph Maier
Albrecht Molsberger
Michael Zenz
Andrew J Vickers
Martin Tegenthoff
BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil Bochum · DERuhr University Bochum · DEEssen University Hospital · DEInstitute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care · DEMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Acupuncture treatment is frequently sought for tension-type headache (TTH), but there is conflicting evidence as to its effectiveness. This randomised, controlled, multicentre, patient-and observer-blinded trial was carried out in 122 outpatient practices in Germany on 409 patients with TTH, defined as > or =10 headache days per month of which < or =1 included migraine symptoms. Interventions were verum acupuncture according to the practice of traditional Chinese medicine or sham acupuncture consisting of superficial needling at nonacupuncture points. Acupuncture was administered by physicians with specialist acupuncture training. Ten 30-min sessions were given over a six-week period, with additional sessions available for partial response. Response was defined as >50% reduction in headache days/month at six months and no use of excluded concomitant medication or other therapies. In the intent-to-treat analysis (all 409 patients), 33% of verum patients and 27% of sham controls (p=0.18) were classed as responders. Verum was superior to sham for most secondary endpoints, including headache days (1.8 fewer; 95% CI 0.6, 3.0; p=0.004) and the International Headache Society response criterion (66% vs. 55% response, risk difference 12%, 95% CI: 2%-21%; p=0.024).). The relative risk on the primary and secondary response criterion was very similar ( approximately 0.8); the difference in statistical significance may be due to differences in event rate. TTH improves after acupuncture treatment. However, the degree to which treatment benefits depend on psychological compared to physiological effects and the degree to which any physiological effects depend on needle placement and insertion depth are unclear.

Indexed as

Acupuncture PointsAcupuncture AnalgesiaAdultDouble-Blind MethodFemaleGermanyHumansMaleMiddle AgedMuscle, SkeletalPlacebo EffectRecurrenceRisk FactorsTension-Type HeadacheTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID17955168
PMCPMC3476149
OpenAlexW2071443490

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.