Meta-analysis of effectiveness of acupuncture for pain relief in Iran

Abstract

Objective (s): With regard to the increase use of acupuncture for pain relief in Iran, until now, there is no structured review of the existing scientific documents. The aim of this study was to provide a meta analysis of evidence on effectiveness of acupuncture in pain relief in Iran.Methods: Using several databases seven studies were identified and included in this meta analysis. We included studies if the study was experimental, and the primary outcome was pain relief. Then the data were analyzed performing convential analysis using CMA statistical software. Results: In all data for 436 individuals were available for analysis (218 cases and 218 controls). The longest intervention time was 3 months with 9 sessions and the least was 15 minutes. Among 7 studies, 5 studies showed that acupuncture had a significant effect on pain relief. The result of integration of data indicated the effect size value -1.310 (95% CI = -0.535 to -2.085 (P < 0.001).Conclusion: The findings from this analysis indicated that acupuncture was effective in pain relief.

Keywords

• iran
• pain relief
• acupuncture
• meta analysis