ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2014
Efficacy of acupuncture for psychological symptoms associated with opioid addiction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Review in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03012373 (Efficacy of Acupuncture as an Adjunct to Methadone Treatment Services for Heroin Addicts), which is not on this map. Cited by 12 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.
Efficacy of Acupuncture as an Adjunct to Methadone Treatment Services for Heroin Addicts
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for adults with substance use disorder that have a co-occurring mental health disorder: an umbrella review and illustrative cost-effectiveness analysis.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Auricular acupuncture for substance use: a randomized controlled trial of effects on anxiety, sleep, drug use and use of addiction treatment services.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2016Trial
- Article
- Acupuncture-related therapies for protracted opioid abstinence syndrome:A systematic review and meta-analysis.Integrative medicine research · 2023Review
- Positive Effects of Laser Acupuncture in Methamphetamine Users Undergoing Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Pilot Study.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021Article
- Acupuncture combined with medication for opioid use disorder in adults: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Efficacy of Electroacupuncture Combined with Auricular Point Pressing in Improving Mental Well-Being among Individuals with Heroin Use Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial and Pilot Study.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2020Article
- Pharmacokinetics of Sublingual Buprenorphine Tablets Following Single and Multiple Doses in Chinese Participants With and Without Opioid Use Disorder.Drugs in R&D · 2019Article
- Current Evidence on Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback as a Complementary Anticraving Intervention.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2018Review
- Efficacy of Acupuncture for Treating Opioid Use Disorder in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2018Review
- Effects of Electroacupuncture on Methamphetamine-Induced Behavioral Changes in Mice.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2017Article
- How to prove that your therapy is effective, even when it is not: a guideline.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This review systematically assessed the clinical evidence for and against acupuncture as a treatment for psychological symptoms associated with opioid addiction. The database was accessed from MEDLINE and China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database. We included all randomized clinical trials published in Chinese and English regardless of their controls. Meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan software, version 5.2. We conducted a literature search of 16 databases from their inception to January 2014. Four studies from Western countries did not report any clinical gains in the treatment of psychological symptoms associated with opioid addiction. 10 of 12 studies from China have reported positive findings regarding the use of acupuncture to treat the psychological symptoms associated with opioid addiction. The methodological quality of the included studies was poor. The meta-analysis indicated that there was a significant difference between the treatment group and the control group for anxiety and depression associated with opioid addiction, although groups did not differ on opioid craving. This review and meta-analysis could not confirm that acupuncture was an effective treatment for psychological symptoms associated with opioid addiction. However, considering the potential of acupuncture demonstrated in the included studies, further rigorous randomized controlled trials with long followup are warranted.
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.