Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35124475›Full record

Trial reportComplementary therapies in clinical practice2022

Electroacupuncture and acupuncture in the treatment of anxiety - A double blinded randomized parallel clinical trial.

Diogo Amorim, Irma Brito, Armando Caseiro, João Paulo Figueiredo, André Pinto, Inês Macedo, Jorge Machado

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Complementary therapies in clinical practice, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

27 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Trial
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Diogo AmorimInstituto de Medicina Integrativa, Rua Filipe Simões nº19, 3000-186, Coimbra, Portugal; Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: geral@medicinaintegrativa.pt.
Irma BritoEscola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra & UICISA:E, Avenida Bissaya Barreto Polo A, Apartado 7001, 3046-851, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: irmabrito@esenfc.pt.
Armando CaseiroLABINSAÚDE - Laboratório de Investigação em Ciências Aplicadas à Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, ESTeSC, Rua 5 de Outubro, 3046-854, Coimbra, Portugal; Unidade I&D Química-Física Molecular, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, 3004-535, Coimbra, Portugal; Politécnico de Coimbra, ESTESC, Ciências Biomédicas Laboratoriais, Rua 5 de Outubro, 3046-854, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: armandocaseiro@estescoimbra.pt.
João Paulo FigueiredoPolitécnico de Coimbra, ESTESC, Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Rua 5 de Outubro, 3046-854, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: jpfigueiredo1974@gmail.com.
André PintoInstituto de Medicina Integrativa, Rua Filipe Simões nº19, 3000-186, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: andreferpinto@gmail.com.
Inês MacedoInstituto de Medicina Integrativa, Rua Filipe Simões nº19, 3000-186, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: inesespiga@gmail.com.
Jorge MachadoInstituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313, Porto, Portugal; CBSin - Center of BioSciences in Integrative Health, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: jmachado.icbas@gmail.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe estimated number of people living with anxiety disorders worldwide is around 264 million and is estimated to have worsened with the recent pandemic of COVID-19. Acupuncture has shown to have excellent therapeutic effects in reducing anxiety.

designDouble-blinded randomized controlled clinical trial with 56 participants (21-82 years) with anxiety diagnosed by 3 different anxiety scales (BAI, GAD-7 and OASIS). A 30-min acupuncture session was applied once a week for 10 weeks.

aimsEvaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture and electroacupuncture in the treatment of anxiety to verify if: (1) People with high anxiety report reduced scores after 5 and 10 sessions; (2) Salivary cortisol levels accompanied the reduced scores; (3) Electroacupuncture treatment is more effective than acupuncture; (4) the treatments is independent of anxiolytic medication.

methodsVolunteers were randomized into 3 groups (control, acupuncture, and electroacupuncture). The results were analyzed by anxiety scales and salivary cortisol tests.

resultsThe findings show an improvement in anxiety, assessed by BAI, GAD-7 and OASIS, after the 5th session of acupuncture (p < 0.05) and electroacupuncture (p < 0.05) and the 10th session for both techniques (p < 0.001). The salivary cortisol values measured in the morning followed this pattern (p < 0.05), although the reduction of the night cortisol values was not statistically significant. Electroacupuncture and acupuncture show similar efficacy. The positive effect after the treatments is independent of anxiolytic medication (p < 0.001).

conclusionAcupuncture and electroacupuncture are effective in treating anxiety on their own or as adjuncts to pharmacological therapy. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NºP445-08/2017 (Unidade de Investigação em Ciências da Saúde).

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyCOVID-19ElectroacupunctureAnxietyAnxiety DisordersHumansSARS-CoV-2Treatment OutcomeAcupunctureAnxietyAnxiety surveysElectroacupunctureSalivary cortisol

Identifiers

PMID35124475
PMCPMC9760487

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.