Combination therapy of scalp electro-acupuncture and medication for the treatment of Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: To summarize the current clinical evidence related to the therapeutic effects and safety of adjuvant scalp electro-acupuncture (SEA) treatment for Parkinson's disease in China. Methods: Following the PRISMA statement, seven electronic databases were searched to retrieve randomized controlled clinical trials that used SEA combined with medication as the treatment intervention, and medication as the control. RevMan 5.3 was used to analyze outcomes, including the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Webster scale, effectiveness rate, and UPDRS III. Results: Nine randomized controlled trials, with certain methodological flaws and risks of bias, were included that involved 474 participants. SEA combined with medication was more effective than medication alone in overall therapeutic effects, as evidenced by total UPDRS scores (mean difference (MD): 7.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.24 to 14.07, P = .04), Webster scores (MD: 1.60, 95% CI 0.20 to 2.99, P = .03), and effectiveness rate (risk ratio: 1.35, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.54, P < .001). In addition, there was significant improvement in pooled motor function results after adjuvant SEA treatment compared with medication alone (MD: 5.75, 95% CI 4.18 to 7.32, P < .001). Conclusion: The combination of SEA and medication may be a promising intervention for patients with Parkinson's disease, especially to improve motor function. However, results were inconclusive, and additional studies with rigorous experimental design and larger sample sizes are needed to verify these results. Keywords: Parkinson's disease, Scalp electro-acupuncture, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, Motor function