SynthesisMedicine2025
The efficacy of acupuncture-based chinese medicine in chronic fatigue syndrome: A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 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
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effectiveness of non-pharmacological therapies in complementary and alternative medicine on improving fatigue levels, oxidative stress, inflammation, and endocrine levels in animal models of chronic fatigue-like conditions: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Pooled it
- Associated factors and assessment of clinical symptoms including fatigue, insomnia, and gastrointestinal discomfort of chronic fatigue syndrome: a cross-sectional case-control study.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Article
- Brain TRPV1 channel-mediated calcium influx: the immunomodulatory pathway of acupuncture in neuroinflammation.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe efficacy of acupuncture therapy in treating chronic fatigue syndrome remains a matter of intense debate owing to contradictory findings. This article describes a systematic review and meta-analysis to study its effect on fatigue, functional mobility, and mental health.
methodsA thorough search of PubMed, PEDro, CINAHL, SportDiscus, and Scopus was performed. The studies meeting the PICO criteria for the Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome were independently screened, and the data were extracted. Standardized mean differences with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using fixed or random-effects models. Publication bias and study quality were assessed to ensure reliability.
resultsAcupuncture demonstrated potential benefits in improving near-term fatigue (RR = -1.21, 95% CI: -1.38 to -1.04), long-term fatigue (RR = -0.56, 95% CI: -0.70 to -0.42), somatic and mental health (RR = -0.30, 95% CI: -1.03 to 0.44), and reducing depression incidence (RR = -0.28, 95% CI: -2.11 to 1.56) in patients with CFS as an effective treatment modality.
conclusionsAcupuncture, especially when combined with rehabilitation, seems to improve fatigue and quality of life among patients with CFS. However, results should be considered carefully since some methodological weaknesses are worth mentioning, such as diversity between studies and the inclusion of lower-quality clinical trials. Future research should consider the importance of conducting large-scale, multicenter randomized controlled trials with standardized methodology to confirm these findings.
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.