Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (Jul 2023)
Scientific Evidence of Acupuncture for Post-Stroke Cognitive Impairment: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
Abstract
Qiongyang Zhou,1,* Yue Ji,2,* Yanzhu Lv,3 Jing Xue,3 Yuhui Wang,3 Yin Huang4 1Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, The First People’s Hospital of Wenling, Wenling, People’s Republic of China; 2First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 3Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Acupuncture, Changshu Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Changshu, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yin Huang, Email [email protected]: Acupuncture may be effective to treat post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI). We aimed to evaluate the reliability of the systematic reviews/meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) evidence regarding acupuncture treatment of PSCI.Methods: The methodological quality was appraised with Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR-2). We evaluated reporting quality with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and evidence quality with Grade of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system.Results: The inclusion criteria were met by fifteen reviews. All studies assessed by AMSTAR-2 had critically poor methodological quality due to the limitations on the lack of the provision of the list of excluded trails, screening of duplicate study, and protocol registration. For reporting quality, response rate of “yes” was less than 50% in Q5 (protocol and registration topic), Q8 (Search) and Q23 (Additional analysis). Evidence quality of outcome measures was low or worse with GRADE because when the data was qualitatively synthesized, low quality and small sample size trials provided the data.Conclusion: Acupuncture may be beneficial for PSCI. Because of limitations and inconsistent conclusions, further research is needed to provide higher evidence for acupuncture on PSCI.Keywords: acupuncture, treatment, cognitive impairment, stroke, evidence
