Disclosures: Liang Zhou: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest
Objective: This meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy of acupuncture in improving cognitive impairment of post-stroke patients.
Design: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of acupuncture compared with no treatment or sham acupuncture on post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) between January 2008 to December 2019 were identified from databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Ovid library, Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP Chinese Periodical Database, Wanfang Database, SinoMed) . The literature searching and data extracting were independently performed by two investigators. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Meta-analyses were performed for the eligible RCTs with Revman 5.3 software. Setting : Affiliated Hospital of Medical School. Participants : no participants.
Interventions: no interventions.
Main Outcome Measures: The gain of MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination) or MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment)
Results: Thirty-six RCTs (2829 patients) were included in this meta-analysis. Merged Random-effects estimates of the gain of MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination) or MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) were calculated for the comparison of acupuncture with no acupuncture or sham acupuncture. Following 3 to 8 weeks of intervention with acupuncture, pooled results demonstrated significant effects of acupuncture in improving PSCI assessed by MMSE (MD[95% CI] =2.82[2.02, 3.61], P < 0.00001)or MoCA(MD[95% CI] =2.66[1.95, 3.37], P < 0.00001). Conclusions: The results suggest that acupuncture was effective in improving PSCI and supported the needs of more rigorous design with large-scale randomized clinical trials to determine its therapeutic benefits.
Level of Evidence: Level I
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Zhou L, Wang Y, Qiao J, Wang Q, Luo X. Acupuncture for Improving Cognitive Impairment After Stroke: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials [abstract]. PM R. 2020; 12(S1)(suppl 1). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/acupuncture-for-improving-cognitive-impairment-after-stroke-a-meta-analysis-of-randomized-controlled-trials/. Accessed May 31, 2025.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2020
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/acupuncture-for-improving-cognitive-impairment-after-stroke-a-meta-analysis-of-randomized-controlled-trials/