ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2020
Effect of Acupuncture on Chronic Pain with Depression: A Systematic Review.
Review in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 5 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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The efficacy of acupuncture for depression-associated chronic pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Visual analysis of research hotspots and trends of external therapies in traditional Chinese medicine for chronic pain.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- The Impact of Individualized Complementary and Integrative Health Interventions Provided in Clinical Settings on Quality of Life: A Systematic Review of Practice-Based Research.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Interventions for Depressive Symptoms in People Living with Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review of Meta-Analyses.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2022Pooled it
- Acupuncture for Chronic Pain-Related Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Pain research & management · 2021Pooled it
- A top-down neural circuit for affective-motivational responses of pain relief induced by electroacupuncture.Chinese medicine · 2026Article
- Acupuncture as Part of Multimodal Analgesia for Chronic Pain.Orthopedic reviews · 2022Article
- Potential Mechanisms and Clinical Effectiveness of Acupuncture in Depression.Current neuropharmacology · 2022Review
- Understanding Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapeutics: An Overview of the Basics and Clinical Applications.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Electroacupuncture Attenuates Neuropathic Pain and Comorbid Negative Behavior: The Involvement of the Dopamine System in the Amygdala.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Article
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNumerous studies suggested that chronic pain and depression were closely related and widespread in the population. When patients have symptoms of chronic pain and depression, the corresponding treatment will become difficult. Acupuncture, a unique therapeutic method of traditional Chinese medicine, has been reported to potentially serve as an alternative treatment for patients with comorbid chronic pain and depression by many research studies.
methodsA comprehensive search was conducted through the online database, including the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, SinoMed, CNKI, and Wanfang database. Trials were RCTs published in the English or Chinese language, recruiting participants with chronic pain and depression comorbidity. The primary outcomes were the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD). Statistical analyses were conducted using Review Manager 5.3. Each trail was quality appraised with the five-point Jadad Score.
results7 eligible RCTs involving 535 patients were included. Better therapeutic effect and safety could be observed in the experimental group compared with the control group. There was a significant decrease in the VAS (mean difference (MD) = -0.68 (-1.24, -0.12),
conclusionIn the treatment of chronic pain with depression, acupuncture could not only get better clinical efficacy, but also have higher security compared with medicine therapy, which can be used in patients with poorer response to the conventional medication or suffering from serious side effects.
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.