ArticleFrontiers in neurology2023
Effect of acupuncture on pain and substance P levels in middle-aged women with chronic neck pain.
Article in Frontiers in neurology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Acupuncture effects of post-stroke thalamic pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of Fu's Subcutaneous Needling for chronic non-specific neck pain and its effect on muscle elasticity: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Trial
- Efficacy of a wearable 660 nm red light therapy device in alleviating neck pain and enhancing neck function.Lasers in medical science · 2025Article
- Circulating MicroRNA Biomarkers for Chronic Pain and Acupuncture Response: An Exploratory High-Dimensional Small-Sample Study.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Chronic neck pain is a leading health issue affecting a significant proportion of the global population. Multiple treatment options for chronic neck pain include anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics. Acupuncture has been widely used for the treatment of chronic pain. In this study, we aimed to determine the efficacy of acupuncture for female patients with chronic neck pain. Twenty-three participants were enrolled in the study, and participants waited 4 weeks without acupuncture treatment and then received 4 weeks of treatment. One-way ANOVA with repeated measures was used to determine differences in the visual analogue scale (VAS), neck disability index (NDI), and substance P (SP) over time. The subjects' pain intensity and degree of disability due to neck pain were measured as primary outcomes. SP in the blood was also analyzed as a secondary outcome. There was no significant difference between the VAS score and NDI value of baseline and after 4 weeks waiting. However, there was an improvement in both VAS and NDI after 4 weeks treatment. SP level was decreased after 4 weeks treatment. We could conclude that acupuncture is effective in alleviating chronic neck pain. Moreover, our findings revealed the efficacy of acupuncture on chronic pain with potential underlying biological mechanisms.
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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.