Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24669195›Full record

ReviewInternational journal of women's health2014

Acupuncture and women's health: an overview of the role of acupuncture and its clinical management in women's reproductive health.

Suzanne Cochrane, Caroline A Smith, Alphia Possamai-Inesedy, Alan Bensoussan

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in International journal of women's health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed
7.9field-weighted citation impact, top 4% 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

21 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. The Efficacy of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the Treatment of Female Infertility.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Evaluation of chemotherapy-induced toxicity and health-related quality of life amongst early-stage breast cancer patients receiving Chinese herbal medicine in Malaysia.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2019
    Observational
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
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

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Suzanne CochraneSchool of Science and Health, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
Caroline A SmithCentre for Complementary Medicine Research, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
Alphia Possamai-InesedySchool of Social Sciences and Psychology, University of Western Sydney - Campbelltown Campus, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
Alan BensoussanCentre for Complementary Medicine Research, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
WaterNSW · AUWestern Sydney University · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAcupuncture and other modalities of Chinese/East Asian medicine have been used to treat women's health for many centuries. Gynecology specialties focus particularly on menstrual and reproductive disorders. Both the adoption of the use of acupuncture outside Asia, and the incorporation of scientific analysis in Asia have challenged biomedical conceptions of what can be achieved with this treatment method. The scale of research activity in relation to acupuncture and women's health has increased over the last 20 years.

objectiveThis review aims to explore the research evidence in relation to acupuncture use for women's reproductive disorders, focusing on both clinical findings and experimental research on acupuncture's mechanisms of action in relation to women's health.

methodsA narrative literature search was undertaken using searches of electronic databases and manual searches of journals and textbooks. The search included all literature published prior to June 2013. The literature was assessed as to the nature of the study it was reporting and findings synthesized into a commentary.

resultsFor acupuncture's mechanism of action the search resulted in 114 relevant documents; in relation to clinical reports on the use of acupuncture for women's health 204 documents were found and assessed.

conclusionThere is preliminary data indicating acupuncture may improve menstrual health and coping for women experiencing delays falling pregnant. There is experimental data showing that acupuncture can influence female reproductive functioning, although the actual mechanisms involved are not yet clarified. Further well-conducted clinical research would benefit our understanding of the usefulness of acupuncture to women's health.

Indexed as

acupuncturealternative medicineChinese medicinehealthreproductive disorderswomen

Identifiers

PMID24669195
PMCPMC3962314
OpenAlexW2134081664

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.