Retrospective Review of the Efficacy of Acupuncture Based on Clinical Reports. (1). Introduction of the Meta-analytic Method.
10.3777/jjsam.47.63
- VernacularTitle:はりの臨床効果に関する文献研究 （第１報） 統合的分析方法の導入
- Author:
Satoshi KOBAYASHI
;
Kazushi NISHIJO
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
acupuncture;
clinical reports;
meta-analytic method;
migraine
- From:Journal of the Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion
1997;47(2):63-74
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
-
Abstract:
The meta-analytic method including a criteria-based assessment and a uniformly defined effective rate of clinical studies was used to study the clinical effect of acupuncture. This method of analysis can be used for a clinical study including case-series study. A criteria-based assessment may reveal the generality and lack of bias in a clinical study and the uniformly defined effective rate represents the general effectiveness led by the study.
We tried to analyze the clinical effect of acupuncture on migraine headache. As a result of analyzing to 16 reports of acupuncture treatment for migraine headache, the criteria-based assessments were widely distributed from 3 to 17 out of 20 points. In its distribution, the 4 reports designed by the randomized controlled trial scored 13, 16, 16 and 17 points, those of 2 prospective clinical studies scored 10 and 17 points, and those of 10 case-studies all scored less than 13 points.
As for the uniformly defined effective rate (%) in clinical studies, the average of the reports was 77.8% (its 95% confidence interval ranged from 68.2-86.0 %) and was much higher than the placebo effective rate of mock TENS (30-35%).
Considering the result of 4 randomized controlled trials, this meta-analytic result suggests the high efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of migraine headache.
