What is the evidence for acupuncture in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the shoulder?
AMSTAR Rating
Summary
Patient Population:
No information on the patient population was provided.
Intervention:
The acupuncture techniques varied from study to study.
Comparison:
Acupuncture was compared to a no-treatment group and a sham acupuncture group. 35 studies were identified for inclusion in the systematic review; 29 studies were included in the patient-level meta-analysis. Nine studies, in the systematic review, included only patients with OA, while 4 focused on the treatment of shoulder pain. The authors identified significant clinical heterogeneity in terms of both the sham treatments and the non-acupuncture control or “usual care” interventions offered to the comparison groups.
Outcome:
- Pain: acupuncture vs. sham-acupuncture (5 studies) – significant difference in favour of acupuncture (SD = 0.26; 95% CI = 0.17 to 0.3 using fixed analysis methods; significant heterogeneity was identified).
- Pain: sham acupuncture vs. no acupuncture – significant difference in favour of sham treatment (ES=0.33; 95% CI 0.20 to 0.56).
