Article type
Abstract
"Background: Acupuncture for weight loss has little side effects on the human body, reliable efficacy, and is internationally recognised as a green weight loss therapy.
Objective: This study aims to systematically identify, synthesise and analyse the evidence and quality of studies from systematic reviews and Meta-analyses related to acupuncture for weight loss by means of an evidence mapping approach to inform clinical decision-making on acupuncture for weight loss.
Methods: PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, and Epistemonikos databases were searched to collect systematic reviews or Meta-analyses of acupuncture for weight loss from the time of library construction to April 2023. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the AMSTAR-2 tool, radar charts were used to present the results of the methodological quality assessment, the Microsoft Excel 2021 tool was used for data extraction and coding, and bubble charts presented the intervention categories, number of original studies, outcome metrics, and statistical results.
Results: A total of 39 systematic reviews and Meta-analyses were included, 22 in Chinese and 17 in English. The AMSTAR-2 quality assessment showed that 4 studies were rated as low quality, 35 as very low quality, and there were no high-quality or moderate-quality studies. Based on the different types of interventions, the bubble chart shows that the included studies were divided into 6 categories. (i) auricular acupuncture or auricular acupuncture combined with other therapies: a total of 21 studies from 6 systematic reviews and Meta-analyses were included. (ii) Acupuncture or acupoint acupuncture combined with other therapies: a total of 70 studies from 13 systematic reviews and Meta-analyses were included. (iii) Electroacupuncture or electroacupuncture combined with other therapies: a total of 37 studies with 13 systematic reviews and Meta-analyses were included, etc.
Conclusion: Acupuncture therapy has been used in studies on the effectiveness of weight loss in obese patients with significant results. In the future, there is still a need to focus on the issue of effectiveness of different acupuncture types of interventions and to standardise the methodological quality and reporting quality of clinical studies related to weight loss by acupuncture."
Objective: This study aims to systematically identify, synthesise and analyse the evidence and quality of studies from systematic reviews and Meta-analyses related to acupuncture for weight loss by means of an evidence mapping approach to inform clinical decision-making on acupuncture for weight loss.
Methods: PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, and Epistemonikos databases were searched to collect systematic reviews or Meta-analyses of acupuncture for weight loss from the time of library construction to April 2023. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the AMSTAR-2 tool, radar charts were used to present the results of the methodological quality assessment, the Microsoft Excel 2021 tool was used for data extraction and coding, and bubble charts presented the intervention categories, number of original studies, outcome metrics, and statistical results.
Results: A total of 39 systematic reviews and Meta-analyses were included, 22 in Chinese and 17 in English. The AMSTAR-2 quality assessment showed that 4 studies were rated as low quality, 35 as very low quality, and there were no high-quality or moderate-quality studies. Based on the different types of interventions, the bubble chart shows that the included studies were divided into 6 categories. (i) auricular acupuncture or auricular acupuncture combined with other therapies: a total of 21 studies from 6 systematic reviews and Meta-analyses were included. (ii) Acupuncture or acupoint acupuncture combined with other therapies: a total of 70 studies from 13 systematic reviews and Meta-analyses were included. (iii) Electroacupuncture or electroacupuncture combined with other therapies: a total of 37 studies with 13 systematic reviews and Meta-analyses were included, etc.
Conclusion: Acupuncture therapy has been used in studies on the effectiveness of weight loss in obese patients with significant results. In the future, there is still a need to focus on the issue of effectiveness of different acupuncture types of interventions and to standardise the methodological quality and reporting quality of clinical studies related to weight loss by acupuncture."