Trial reportMenopause (New York, N.Y.)2016
Acupuncture in Menopause (AIM) study: a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Menopause (New York, N.Y.), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of acupuncture on menopausal depressive disorder and serum hormone levels: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Variation in menopausal vasomotor symptoms outcomes in clinical trials: a systematic review.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- A Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Trial of Electroacupuncture for Perimenopause Women with Mild-Moderate Depression.BioMed research international · 2018Trial
- Trajectories of response to acupuncture for menopausal vasomotor symptoms: the Acupuncture in Menopause study.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2017Trial
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the Management of Perimenopausal Sleep Disturbances: A Scoping Review.Cureus · 2026Review
- Cost-utility analysis of traditional Korean medicine without acupuncture claims versus integrative care for menopausal disorders: A nationwide retrospective cohort study.Integrative medicine research · 2026Article
- Nonpharmacological Intervention Effects on Middle-Aged Women with Menopausal Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Menopause is a Whole-Person Developmental Transition: An Overview of Menopause Information and Acupuncture Therapy Approaches to Symptom Management.Medical acupuncture · 2025Article
- Management of vasomotor symptoms in cancer patients.The oncologist · 2025Review
- Effects and mechanisms of acupuncture on women related health.Frontiers of medicine · 2024Review
- Endocrine Therapy for Surgeons: Practical Pearls for Managing Menopausal, Bone Loss and Sexual Adverse Effects.Annals of surgical oncology · 2023Review
- Exploration of Japanese women seeking acupuncture for menopausal symptoms: a preliminary study.International journal of complementary & alternative medicine · 2023Article
- How to design high quality acupuncture trials-a consensus informed by evidence.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2022Article
- Menopause symptoms in women and its relation with using complementary and alternative medicines: A survey in southeast Iran.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Efficacy of the Complementary and Alternative Therapies for the Management of Psychological Symptoms of Menopause: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of menopausal medicine · 2021Review
- Diversity of Acupuncture Point Selections According to the Acupuncture Styles and Their Relations to Theoretical Elements in Traditional Asian Medicine: A Data-Mining-Based Literature Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- The efficacy and safety of acupuncture for perimenopausal insomnia: A protocol for a network meta-analysis.Medicine · 2020Article
- Investigation of the role of herbal medicine, acupressure, and acupuncture in the menopausal symptoms: An evidence-based systematic review study.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2020Review
- 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
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe aim of the study was to evaluate the short and long-term effects of acupuncture on vasomotor symptoms (VMS) and quality of life-related measures.
methodsA total of 209 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women aged 45 to 60 years, experiencing four or more VMS per day, were recruited from the community and randomized to receive up to 20 acupuncture treatments within the first 6 months (acupuncture group) or the second 6 months (waitlist control group) of the 12-month study period. The primary outcome was mean daily frequency of VMS. Secondary outcomes were VMS interference with daily life, sleep quality, depressive symptoms, somatic and other symptoms, anxiety, and quality of life.
resultsThe VMS frequency declined by 36.7% at 6 months in the acupuncture group and increased by 6.0% in the control group (P < 0.001 for between-group comparison). At 12 months, the reduction from baseline in the acupuncture group was 29.4% (P < 0.001 for within-group comparison from baseline to 12 months), suggesting that the reduction was largely maintained after treatment. Statistically significant clinical improvement was observed after three acupuncture treatments, and maximal clinical effects occurred after a median of eight treatments. Persistent improvements were seen in many quality of life-related outcomes in the acupuncture group relative to the control group.
conclusionsWe found that a course of acupuncture treatments was associated with significant reduction in VMS, and several quality-of-life measures, compared with no acupuncture, and that clinical benefit persisted for at least 6 months beyond the end of treatment.
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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.