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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Med.
Sec. Family Medicine and Primary Care
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1446515
This article is part of the Research Topic The Increasing Relevance of Traditional Medicine Systems for the Primary Health Care Sector and General Practice: Global Research Perspectives View all 13 articles

Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture Modalities for Overweight and Obesity Treatment: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis of RCTs

Provisionally accepted
Youngjin Kim Youngjin Kim 1Ha-Im Park Ha-Im Park 2Hongmin Chu Hongmin Chu 3Hanbit Jin Hanbit Jin 3*Jungtae Leem Jungtae Leem 3*
  • 1 Wonkwang University Korean Medicine Hospital, Iksan, Republic of Korea
  • 2 Wonkwang University Korean Medicine Hospital, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
  • 3 Wonkwang University, Iksan, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of obesity have not been assessed. This poses a challenge for clinicians who choose to use acupuncture in the treatment of obesity, as they are unable to prioritize this approach based on outcome variables. Methods: In May 2024, a literature search of five databases was conducted. Only randomized controlled trials evaluating body weight (BW), body mass index, waist circumference (WC), and adverse events in patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher for various acupuncture modalities were included. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials, version 2. Pairwise meta-analysis (PMA) and Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) were performed using a random effects model for quantitative synthesis. Results: Fourteen studies (n = 868) were included. The included studies evaluated the following acupuncture modalities: electroacupuncture (EA) (N = 6), laser acupuncture (LA) (N = 2), auricular acupuncture (AA) (N = 5), and manual acupuncture (MA) (N = 3). The PMA found that adding EA to usual care (UC), compared to UC alone, reduced BW (MD = 2.46, 95% CI = 1.12 to 3.80, I² = 58%, REM, N = 3, n = 157). The NMA of BW showed the following effect sizes for UC alone versus each acupuncture modality combined with UC: LA (MD = 2.09, 95% CI = 0.04 to 3.86), EA (MD = 2.04, 95% CI = 0.88 to 3.50), AA (MD = 1.69, 95% CI = -0.11 to 3.58), and MA (MD = 1.02, 95% CI = -0.82 to 2.94). The probability of each modality being the optimal treatment was evaluated using the surface under the cumulative ranking curve. EA was the most efficacious for BW and BMI, while LA was the most efficacious for WC. Discussion: EA and LA can effectively complement clinical obesity management. The number of included studies was limited, and publication bias may have occurred, necessitating a cautious interpretation of the results. Furthermore, most studies lasted between six and 12 weeks. Future clinical studies of acupuncture for obesity should include longer follow-up periods.

    Keywords: Acupuncture, Overweight, Obesity, Systematic review, Network meta-analysis

    Received: 10 Jun 2024; Accepted: 31 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kim, Park, Chu, Jin and Leem. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Hanbit Jin, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Republic of Korea
    Jungtae Leem, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Republic of Korea

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