Trial reportBMC complementary medicine and therapies2024
Electro-acupuncture for central obesity: a patient-assessor blinded, randomized sham-controlled clinical trial.
Trial report in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03815253 (Electro-acupuncture for Central Obesity), which is not on this map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 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.
Electro-acupuncture for Central Obesity: a Single Blinded Randomized Sham-controlled Clinical Trial
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of traditional Chinese medicine non-pharmacological intervention in patients with simple obesity: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- The effects of acupoint catgut embedding therapy on anthropometric parameters and endocrine function in obese women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Electroacupuncture Reduces Waistline in Patients with Abdominal Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Trial with Mechanistic Analysis of Lipidomic and Intestinal Microbiota.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2025Trial
- Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2-driven pancreatic macrophage crosstalk: Key regulator of obesity pathophysiology and metabolic dysregulation.World journal of biological chemistry · 2026Review
- Electroacupuncture Ameliorates Premature Ovarian Insufficiency by Inhibiting METTL3-Mediated m6A Methylation of Beclin 1 mRNA in Granulosa Cells.Food science & nutrition · 2026Article
- Electroacupuncture as a therapeutic intervention for obesity: mechanisms and implications.Pflugers Archiv : European journal of physiology · 2026Review
- Effect of BMI-stratified management based on the meridian-lymph axis theory on lower extremity lymphedema after gynecological cancer surgery: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Efficacy of acupuncture on glucocorticoid-induced insomnia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial assessed by polysomnographic parameters and 5-HT.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Article
- Electroacupuncture alleviates comorbid obesity and depression via the gut-brain axis: orchestrating SCFA-producing bacteria and hippocampal synaptic plasticity.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of asthenospermia in obese men: study protocol for a randomized control trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Effectiveness and safety of acupoint catgut embedding for patients with mild psoriasis and overweight: study protocol of a multicenter double-blind randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Acupuncture for cancer-related insomnia: An evidence mapping.Integrative medicine research · 2025Review
- Electroacupuncture pretreatment alleviates myocardial ischemia injury via brown adipose tissue and BMP3b/Smad1/5 pathway in mice.Adipocyte · 2025Article
- Perspectives in clinical research on acupuncture treatment for central obesity: A perspective.Medicine · 2025Review
- Application of Polyglycolic Acid/Poly (Lactic-co-glycolic Acid) in Thread Embedding Acupuncture for Obesity: New Strategies and Challenges.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2025Review
- Laser Acupuncture versus Liraglutide in Treatment of Obesity: A Multi-Institutional Retrospective Cohort Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCentral obesity is considered as a significant health threat to individuals. Scientific research has demonstrated that intra-abdominal fat accumulation is associated with higher metabolic and cardiovascular disease risks independent of Body Mass Index (BMI). This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of electro-acupuncture in treating central obesity compared with sham acupuncture.
methodThis was a patient-assessor blinded, randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial. One hundred sixty eight participants aged between 18 and 65 years old with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m
resultsThe acupuncture group displayed a significant change in WC compared to the sham group both treatment and follow-up period (MD = -1.1 cm, 95% CI = -2.8 to 4.1). Significant change in body fat percentage was recorded for both groups after treatment but no significance was observed during the follow-up period (MD = -0.1%, 95% CI = -1.9 to 2.2). The changes in hip circumference were also significant both treatment and follow-up period for the acupuncture group (MD = -2.0 cm, 95% CI = -3.7 to -1.7). Compared with sham acupuncture, the body weight (MD = -1 kg, 95% CI = -3.3 to 5.3), BMI (MD = -0.5, 95% CI = -0.7 to 1.9) also decreased significantly within and between groups. The incidence of adverse events was similar in the two groups.
conclusionThis study provided evidence that electro-acupuncture could be effective in treating central obesity by reducing WC, hip circumference, body weight, BMI, and waist-to-hip circumference ratio.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03815253, Registered 24 Jan 2019.
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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.