ArticleExperimental and therapeutic medicine2015
Is acupuncture no more than a placebo? Extensive discussion required about possible bias.
Article in Experimental and therapeutic medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03981120 (The Effect of Acupuncture on in Vitro Fertilization Outcomes in Women Undergoing Euploid Embryo Transfer - A Pilot Study), which is not on this map. Cited by 21 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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.
The Effect of Acupuncture on in Vitro Fertilization Outcomes in Women Undergoing Euploid Embryo Transfer - A Pilot Study
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Acupuncture for treating overactive bladder in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Revealing the Neuroimaging Mechanism of Acupuncture for Poststroke Aphasia: A Systematic Review.Neural plasticity · 2022Pooled it
- The Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture for Patients with Chronic Urticaria: A Systematic Review.BioMed research international · 2016Pooled it
- Trial
- 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
- IDEAL-Acu: A Methodological Framework for Evaluating the Effects of Acupuncture.Journal of evidence-based medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Article
- Article
- Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Traditional and Complimentary Medicine in Oman.Sultan Qaboos University medical journal · 2023Article
- Reporting quality of sham needles used as controls in acupuncture trials: a methodological evaluation.Chinese medicine · 2022Article
- Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity Modulation and Clinical Efficacy of Acupuncture for Posterior Circulation Infarction Vertigo: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Review
- Effective Oriental Magic for Analgesia: Acupuncture.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Review
- Peripheral ERK modulates acupuncture-induced brain neural activity and its functional connectivity.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Is acupuncture dose dependent? Ramifications of acupuncture treatment dose within clinical practice and trials.Integrative medicine research · 2020Article
- Acupuncture Resolves Persistent Pain and Neuroinflammation in a Mouse Model of Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions.The journal of pain · 2018Article
- Acupuncture and Neural Mechanism in the Management of Low Back Pain-An Update.Medicines (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Review
- Article
- Why We Need Minimum Basic Requirements in Science for Acupuncture Education.Medicines (Basel, Switzerland) · 2016Article
- Cochrane reviews on acupuncture therapy for pain: A snapshot of the current evidence.Explore (New York, N.Y.)Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture have been conducted in recent years. The results of several studies implied that acupuncture was only a powerful placebo; however, certain studies demonstrated that verum acupuncture had a greater effect than placebo and the mechanisms between a verum acupuncture group and a placebo/sham group were different. Researchers attempted to investigate the inherent factors that may potentially influence the results of trials. Certain problems observed in acupuncture RCTs also occurred in RCTs in other fields, including insufficient sample size, high dropout rates, inadequate follow-up and randomization. The study of acupuncture is so complex that specific methodological challenges are raised, which are frequently overlooked, including sham interventions, blinding, powerful placebo effects (even stronger than an inert pill) and variations in acupuncture administration. The aforementioned problems may contribute to bias, and researchers systematically attempt to solve these problems. The present review aimed to suggest techniques to design high-quality studies, minimize the placebo effect and optimize acupuncture administration in acupuncture studies. If these problems are addressed, then the results of acupuncture studies may be different.
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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.