Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38833080›Full record

ArticleJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2025

Complementary acupuncture treatment and reduced risk of sudden sensorineural hearing loss in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients: a retrospective, nested case-control study.

Yu-Jen Shen, Hou-Hsun Liao, Hanoch Livneh, Miao-Chiu Lin, Ming-Chi Lu, Szu-Chin Li, Tzung-Yi Tsai

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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.

Yu-Jen Shen *Department of Chinese Medicine, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan.
Hou-Hsun Liao *Department of Chinese Medicine, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan.
Hanoch Livneh *Rehabilitation Counseling Program, Portland State University, Portland, USA.
Miao-Chiu Lin *Department of Nursing, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan.
Ming-Chi LuDivision of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan.
Szu-Chin LiSchool of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan. lisrau@gmail.com.
Tzung-Yi TsaiDepartment of Nursing, Tzu Chi University of Science and Technology, Hualien, Taiwan. dm732024@tzuchi.com.tw.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeHearing loss is a frequently observed comorbidity in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Accumulating evidence demonstrated that acupuncture can safely manage cancer and its treatment-related symptoms, but its effect in minimizing the likelihood of experiencing sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) has not been established. So this work aimed to determine the risk of SSHL among NPC persons with or without acupuncture use.

methodsOne population-level, nested case-control design within a cohort study is employed. Relevant information on persons aged 20-80 years who were afflicted with NPC between 2000 and 2010 was extracted from a nationwide health claims database. From them, we identified the cases who had the first SSHL diagnosis occurring after NPC, and all of them were randomly matched to two controls without SSHL. Conditional logistic regression was employed to calculate odds ratios (OR) and its respective 95% confidence intervals (CI) for incident SSHL in relation to acupuncture treatment.

resultsEight hundred eleven SSHL cases were randomly matched to 1452 controls. Those receiving conventional care plus acupuncture use had a reduced adjusted OR of 0.39 (95% CI, 0.25-0.60) for SSHL. We further discovered that the longer usage of acupuncture remarkably correlated with reduction of SSHL risk in a dose-dependent manner.

conclusionsDelineation of the benefit from integration of acupuncture into conventional care may be a reference in instituting more appropriate care for NPC subjects. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Patients living with NPC may benefit from a timely integration of acupuncture into routine care to lessen SSHL risk.

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyHearing Loss, SensorineuralHearing Loss, SuddenNasopharyngeal CarcinomaNasopharyngeal NeoplasmsAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCase-Control StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesYoung AdultAcupunctureNasopharyngeal carcinomaNested case–control studySudden sensorineural hearing loss

Identifiers

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.