SynthesisMedicine2022
Acupuncture and moxibustion for chronic fatigue syndrome: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- The efficacy of acupuncture-based chinese medicine in chronic fatigue syndrome: A meta-analysis.Medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Recent research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an evidence map.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Pooled it
- The use of acupuncture for addressing neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with long COVID: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Is there a role for traditional and complementary medicines in managing chronic fatigue? a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy of acupuncture-based traditional Chinese medicine therapies for chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurologyPooled it
- Identifying potential biomarkers in the hippocampus of chronic fatigue syndrome rats treated with moxibustion at Zusanli (ST36): a proteomics study.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2025Article
- Article
- Electro-acupuncture for long COVID neuropsychiatric symptoms: study protocol for a prospective, randomized sham-controlled, patient-assessor-blinded clinical trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- From tradition to healing: the promise of acupuncture in managing chronic fatigue syndrome.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
- Research progress in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome through interventions targeting the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Review
- Integrated 'omics analysis for the gut microbiota response to moxibustion in a rat model of chronic fatigue syndrome.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2023Article
- Acupoint stimulation for long COVID: A promising intervention:.World journal of acupuncture-moxibustion · 2023Review
- Ginsenoside Rg1 can reverse fatigue behavior in CFS rats by regulating EGFR and affecting Taurine and Mannose 6-phosphate metabolism.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundResearch into acupuncture and moxibustion and their application for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has been growing, but the findings have been inconsistent.
objectiveTo evaluate the existing randomized clinical trials (RCTs), compare the efficacy of acupuncture, moxibustion and other traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments. DATA SOURCES: Three English-language databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and The Cochrane Library) and 4 Chinese-language biomedical databases (Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang) were searched for RCTs published from database inception through August 2021. STUDY SELECTION: RCTs include acupuncture, moxibustion, traditional Chinese herbal medicine, western medicine and no control. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Data were screened and extracted independently using predesigned forms. The quality of RCTs was appraised with the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool. We conducted a random-effects network meta-analysis within a frequentist framework. We assessed the certainty of evidence contributing to network estimates of the main outcomes with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) framework. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcomes were the overall response rate and FS-14 scale.
resultsA total of 51 randomized controlled trials involving 3473 patients with CFS were included in this review. Forty one studies indicate low risk or unknown risk, and the GRADE scores of the combined results show low levels. Among the main indicators, traditional Chinese medicine therapies have excellent performance. However, the overall response rate is slightly different from the results obtained from the Fatigue Scale-14 total score. Moxibustion and traditional Chinese medicine (Odds ratios 48, 95% CrI 15-150) perform better in the total effective rate, while moxibustion plus acupuncture (MD 4.5, 95% CrI 3.0-5.9) is better in the FS-14 total score.
conclusionsThe effect of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of CFS was significantly higher than that of other treatments. Traditional Chinese medicine should be used more widely in the treatment of CFS.
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.