Evidence map›Paper›PMID 20876268›Full record

SynthesisCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2010

Acupuncture for functional recovery after stroke: a systematic review of sham-controlled randomized clinical trials.

Jae Cheol Kong, Myeong Soo Lee, Byung-Cheul Shin, Yung-Sun Song, Edzard Ernst

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
53citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
27.6field-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

53 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 96 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Efficacy of rTMS in treating functional impairment in post-stroke patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024
    Pooled it
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  6. Acupuncture for stroke rehabilitation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016
    Pooled it
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  9. Acupuncture for shoulder pain after stroke: a systematic review.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2012
    Pooled it
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  13. The Effects of Acupuncture on Cerebral Blood Flow in Post-Stroke Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2016
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Jae Cheol KongDepartment of Oriental Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Oriental Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, South Korea.
Myeong Soo Lee
Byung-Cheul Shin
Yung-Sun Song
Edzard Ernst
Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine · KRWonkwang University · KRPusan National University · KR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAcupuncture is frequently advocated as an adjunct treatment during stroke rehabilitation. The aim of this review was to assess its effectiveness in this setting.

methodsWe searched 25 databases and 12 major Korean traditional medicine journals from their inception to October 2009. We included randomized controlled trials, with no language restrictions, that compared the effects of acupuncture (with or without electrical stimulation) with sham acupuncture. We assessed the methodologic quality of the trials using the Cochrane risk-of-bias criteria and the PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database) scale.

resultsTen of 664 potentially relevant studies met our inclusion criteria. For acute and subacute stages after stroke, we included seven trials. A meta-analysis of the five studies that assessed functionality did not show a significant difference in favour of acupuncture, with high heterogeneity. A post-hoc sensitivity analysis of three trials with low risk of bias did not show beneficial effects of acupuncture on activities of daily living at the end of the intervention period (n = 244; standard mean difference 0.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.18 to 0.32; I(2) = 0%) or after follow-up (n = 244; standard mean difference 0.10, 95% CI -0.15 to 0.35; I(2) = 0%). For the chronic stage after stroke, three trials tested effects of acupuncture on function according to the Modified Ashworth Scale; all failed to show favourable effects.

interpretationOur meta-analyses of data from rigorous randomized sham-controlled trials did not show a positive effect of acupuncture as a treatment for functional recovery after stroke.

Indexed as

Activities of Daily LivingAcupuncture TherapyAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMiddle AgedPatient SatisfactionQuality of LifeRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRecovery of FunctionStrokeTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID20876268
PMCPMC2972322
OpenAlexW2138902567

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.