SynthesisFrontiers in medicine2024
Efficacy of acupuncture for functional constipation in elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis 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
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy of Abdominal Acupuncture in Poststroke Constipation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis With Trial Sequential Analysis.Brain and behavior · 2026Pooled it
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Numerous clinical studies have shown that patients suffering from functional constipation can benefit by combining medication with acupuncture. There have been no published reviews or meta-analyses regarding the use of acupuncture in treating functional constipation in older adults. Therefore, we carried out a meta-analysis to assess the impact of acupuncture on elderly patients dealing with functional constipation. Methods: This study retrieved randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on acupuncture therapy for functional constipation in the elderly from several electronic databases, including Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Wanfang Database, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. In these databases, clinical investigators evaluated the effectiveness of acupuncture as a primary treatment for elderly people with functional constipation. Results: A total of 469 elderly individuals were included in 8 RCTs. The meta-analysis yielded compelling findings: the application of acupuncture has significantly elevated the rates of treatment effectiveness compared to the control group. Compared with the control group, the treatment group exhibited a statistically significant difference in complete spontaneous bowel movements after treatment. The two groups showed no significant difference in spontaneous bowel movements. However, there was a significant difference in the Bristol Stool Scale scores. The Defecation Difficulty Score and Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life (PAC-QOL) showed Conclusion: The analysis results indicated that acupuncture can be beneficial for elderly people with functional constipation; however, strong and comprehensive data are not yet obtainable. Given that our study is based on evidence that is of a low-to-moderate quality, further high-quality research is necessary to enhance the feasibility and practicability of this treatment. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42024533215.
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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.