Trial reportBMJ open2021
Cost-effectiveness of speech and language therapy plus scalp acupuncture versus speech and language therapy alone for community-based patients with Broca's aphasia after stroke: a post hoc analysis of data from a randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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
6 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Scalp acupuncture coupled with speech-language therapy modulates the ventral-dorsal structural brain network in patients with post-stroke anomia: a randomized clinical and DTI neuroimaging trial.Chinese medicine · 2026Article
- Cost-effectiveness of neuropsychological rehabilitation for acquired brain injuries: Update of Stolwyk et al.'s (2019) review.Journal of neuropsychology · 2025Article
- Scientific evidence of acupuncture for post-stroke motor impairment: protocol for an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.BMJ open · 2024Article
- The Impact of Poststroke Aphasia on Quality of Life: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study.Cureus · 2024Article
- Analyzing a Cost-Effectiveness Dataset: A Speech and Language Example for Clinicians.Seminars in speech and language · 2022Article
- Economic Evaluations of Speech and Language Therapy Interventions: A Scoping Review.International journal of language & communication disordersArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis study aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of combined scalp acupuncture therapy with speech and language therapy for patients with Broca's aphasia after stroke.
designA within-trial cost-effectiveness analysis. SETTINGS: Community health centres. SUBJECTS: A total of 203 participants with Broca's aphasia after stroke who had been randomly assigned to receive scalp acupuncture with speech and language therapy (intervention) or speech and language therapy alone (control).
interventionBoth groups underwent speech and language therapy (30 min per day, 5 days a week, for 4 weeks), while the intervention group simultaneously received scalp acupuncture. PRIMARY OUTCOMES: All outcomes were collected at baseline, and after the 4-week intervention and 12-week follow-up. Cost-effectiveness measures included the Chinese Rehabilitation Research Center Standard Aphasia Examination (CRRCAE) and Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE). Cost-utility was evaluated using quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were expressed, and sensitivity analysis was conducted.
resultsThe total cost to deliver the intervention was €4001.72, whereas it was €4323.57 for the control group. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios showed that the intervention was cost-effective (€495.1 per BDAE grade gained; €1.8 per CRRCAE score gained; €4597.1 per QALYs gained) relative to the control over the 12 weeks. The intervention had a 56.4% probability of being cost-effective at the ¥50 696 (€6905.87) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita threshold. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the results.
conclusionsCompared with speech and language therapy alone, the addition of scalp acupuncture was cost-effective in Chinese communities. As the costs of acupuncture services in China are likely to differ from other countries, these results should be carefully interpreted and remain to be confirmed in other populations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR-TRC-13003703.
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