ArticleChinese medicine2022
Reporting quality of sham needles used as controls in acupuncture trials: a methodological evaluation.
Article in Chinese medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Placebo Effect of Sham Acupuncture for Primary Insomnia: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.Journal of sleep research · 2026Pooled it
- Does the outcome of acupuncture differ according to the location of sham needling points in acupuncture trials for migraine? A systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers of medicine · 2025Pooled it
- The blinding status and characteristics in acupuncture clinical trials: a systematic reviews and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Therapeutic mechanisms of acupuncture therapy for acute pain in the emergency department.Integrative medicine research · 2026Review
- Cochrane reviews of acupuncture are dated, do not account for the specific effects of sham controls and likely underestimate the efficacy of acupuncture therapy.Integrative medicine research · 2025Review
- Electroacupuncture promotes gastrointestinal functional recovery after radical colorectal cancer surgery: a protocol of multicenter randomized controlled trial (CORRECT trial).International journal of colorectal disease · 2024Article
- Using the right design controls for acupuncture trials: Methodological rigor and validity in research.Integrative medicine research · 2024Article
- Descriptions of sham acupuncture in randomised controlled trials: a critical review of the literature.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe description of controls is important in acupuncture clinical trials to interpret its effectiveness without fallacy. This paper aims to evaluate the reporting quality of acupuncture studies on the characteristics of sham needles. STUDY DESIGN AND
settingUsing a checklist developed from previously published reporting guidelines, the distribution of reported items and changes of reporting rates over time were investigated. Two-way ANOVA and linear regression were conducted.
resultsOriginal articles of RCTs of any design involving sham needles as controls were eligible for assessment. 117 trials from three 2-year time periods between 2009 and 2018 were included. Seven items out of 25 were reported in more than 50% of the studies. While significant differences of reporting scores among categories were observed, there were no significant differences among time periods; no significant improvement was observed over time.
conclusionsLow reporting qualities of sham needles used in acupuncture studies may influence how researchers understand the effectiveness of acupuncture. This study evaluated previous publications from 2009 to 2018 and found that reporting qualities on sham needles did not improve over time. Further studies are required to validate the items used in this study to endorse better reporting of controls in acupuncture trials.
Indexed as
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.