Trial reportMenopause (New York, N.Y.)2012
A pilot randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled trial of traditional acupuncture for vasomotor symptoms and mechanistic pathways of menopause.
Trial report in Menopause (New York, N.Y.), 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Acupuncture for menopausal hot flushes.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Factors associated with a clinically relevant reduction in menopausal symptoms of a standardized acupuncture approach for women with bothersome menopausal symptoms.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2021Trial
- The effect of acupuncture on depression and its correlation with metabolic alterations: A randomized controlled trial.Medicine · 2020Trial
- Trial
- A Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Trial of Electroacupuncture for Perimenopause Women with Mild-Moderate Depression.BioMed research international · 2018Trial
- Comparative effectiveness of electro-acupuncture versus gabapentin for sleep disturbances in breast cancer survivors with hot flashes: a randomized trial.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2017Trial
- Trajectories of response to acupuncture for menopausal vasomotor symptoms: the Acupuncture in Menopause study.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2017Trial
- Acupuncture in Menopause (AIM) study: a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2016Trial
- Effects of stellate ganglion block on vasomotor symptoms: findings from a randomized controlled clinical trial in postmenopausal women.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2014Trial
- Use acupuncture to relieve perimenopausal syndrome: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.Trials · 2014Trial
- Traditional and Emerging Sex-Specific Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Women.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Review
- Article
- Acupuncture in sham device controlled trials may not be as effective as acupuncture in the real world: a preliminary network meta-analysis of studies of acupuncture for hot flashes in menopausal women.Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society · 2020Article
- A pooled analysis of three studies of nonpharmacological interventions for menopausal hot flashes.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2019Review
- Succinate-Based Dietary Supplement for Menopausal Symptoms: A Pooled Analysis of Two Identical Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials.Obstetrics and gynecology international · 2019Article
- Spatiotemporal changes of optical signals in the somatosensory cortex of neuropathic rats after electroacupuncture stimulation.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2017Article
- Ischemic heart disease in women: a focus on risk factors.Trends in cardiovascular medicine · 2015Review
- Acupuncture to Treat Sleep Disorders in Postmenopausal Women: A Systematic Review.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2015Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe aim of this study was to conduct a pilot study for the feasibility of planning a definitive clinical trial comparing traditional acupuncture (TA) with sham acupuncture (SA) and waiting control (WC) on menopause-related vasomotor symptoms (VMS), quality of life, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.
methodsThirty-three perimenopausal and postmenopausal women with at least seven VMS daily were randomized to TA, SA, or WC. The TA and SA groups were given three treatments per week for 12 weeks. Outcomes included the number and severity of VMS, Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, Spielberg State-Trait Anxiety Instrument, Pittsburgh Quality Sleep Index, 24-hour urine cortisol and metabolites, and adrenocorticotropic hormone stimulation testing.
resultsBoth the TA and SA groups demonstrated improved VMS trends compared with the WC group (Δ -3.5 ± 3.00 vs -4.1 ± 3.79 vs -1.2 ± 2.4, respectively; P = 20) and significantly improved Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire vasomotor scores (Δ -1.5 ± 2.02 vs -1.8 ± 1.52 vs -0.3 ± 0.64, respectively; P = 0.04). There were no psychosocial group differences. Exit 24-hour urinary measures were lower in the TA versus the SA or WC group in total cortisol metabolites (4,658.9 ± 1,670.9 vs 7,735.8 ± 3,747.9 vs 5,166.0 ± 2,234.5, P = 0.03; respectively) and dehydroepiandrosterone (41.4 ± 27.46, 161.2 ± 222.77, and 252.4 ± 385.40, respectively; P = 0.05). The response data on adrenocorticotropic hormone stimulation cortisol also trended in the hypothesized direction (P = 0.17).
conclusionsBoth TA and SA reduce VMS frequency and severity and improve VMS-related quality of life compared with WC; however, TA alone may impact the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. This association is viewed as preliminary and hypothesis generating and should be explored in a large clinical trial.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.