Approach to Assess Adequacy of Acupuncture in Randomized Controlled Trials:A Systematic Review  

作　　者：SHI Lan-jun TIAN Zi-yu HU Xiao-yi XIU Wen-cui JIAO Rui-min HU Xiang-yu Nicola Robinson GANG Wei-juan JING Xiang-hong 

机构地区：[1]Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion,China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences,Beijing(100700),China [2]Centre for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine,Beijing University of Chinese Medicine,Beijing(100029),China [3]School of Health and Social Care,London South Bank University,London(SE1OAA),United Kingdom

出　　处：《Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine》2023年第8期730-737,共8页中国结合医学杂志（英文版）

基　　金：the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.81973968);the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences(Nos.GH201901 and 2020YJSZX-1)。

摘　　要：Objective To summarize and identify the available instruments/methods assessing the adequacy of acupuncture in randomized controlled trials(RCTs)for proposing a new improved instrument.Methods A systematic literature search was carried out in 7 electronic databases from inception until 21st November 2022.Any study evaluating the adequacy or quality of acupuncture,specifying specific acupuncture treatment-related factors as criteria of subgroup analysis,or developing an instrument/tool to assess the adequacy or quality of acupuncture in an RCT was included.Basic information,characteristics and contents of acupuncture adequacy assessment were presented as frequencies and percentages.Results Forty studies were included in this systematic review.Thirty-five studies(87.50%)were systematic reviews,none of which used formal methods to develop the assessment instruments/methods of acupuncture adequacy;of 5 methodological studies,only 1 study used a relatively formal method.Thirty-two studies(82.05%)assessed the components of acupuncture,while 7(17.95%)assessed the overall quality of acupuncture.An independent assessment instrument/method was used to assess acupuncture adequacy in 29 studies(74.35%),whereas as one part of a methodological quality assessment scale in 10(25.65%).Only 9(23.00%)studies used the assessment results for subgroup analysis,sensitivity analysis or the criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis.Conclusion Assessment contents for adequacy or quality of acupuncture in RCTs hadn’t still reached consensus and no widely used assessment tools appeared.The methodology of available assessment instruments/scales is far from formal and rigorous.A new instrument/tool assessing adequacy of acupuncture should be developed using a formal method.

关 键 词：ACUPUNCTURE adequacy assessment QUALITY randomized clinical trial systematic review 

分 类 号：R246[医药卫生—针灸推拿学]