Effects of acupuncture on musculoskeletal pain: an evidence map
BackgroundMusculoskeletal pain is a leading cause of disability and reduced quality of life worldwide. Given the growing interest in complementary and alternative therapies, acupuncture has been widely explored as a potential treatment for alleviating musculoskeletal pain. This evidence map aimed to...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2025.1575226/full |
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| author | Lin Ang Eunhye Song Tae-Young Choi Ji Hee Jun Boram Lee Mi Hong Yim Hye Won Lee Myeong Soo Lee |
| author_facet | Lin Ang Eunhye Song Tae-Young Choi Ji Hee Jun Boram Lee Mi Hong Yim Hye Won Lee Myeong Soo Lee |
| author_sort | Lin Ang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundMusculoskeletal pain is a leading cause of disability and reduced quality of life worldwide. Given the growing interest in complementary and alternative therapies, acupuncture has been widely explored as a potential treatment for alleviating musculoskeletal pain. This evidence map aimed to identify, describe, and summarize the current available evidence about acupuncture interventions on musculoskeletal pain.MethodsFor this map, searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), Web of Science, and Epistemonikos to identify systematic reviews (SRs) with meta-analysis published up to 23 August 2024. Included SRs were independently assessed for eligibility in pairs. The data from the eligible SRs were extracted and evaluated for methodological quality using AMSTAR 2. The findings were tabulated and mapped using bubble plots.ResultsA total of 111 SRs fulfilled the eligibility criteria and were included in this evidence map. All of the SRs included manual acupuncture or electroacupuncture. Comparators included in SRs involved active comparators, inactive comparators, sham acupuncture, and no intervention. The included 111 SRs were categorized into 35 musculoskeletal pain conditions. The short-term effects of acupuncture showed a positive effect across most comparators in major musculoskeletal pain. All included SRs were rated low or critically low in terms of methodological quality.ConclusionThis evidence map demonstrated that acupuncture has favorable effects on major musculoskeletal disorders. Further improvements in the quality of evidence should be prioritized and more clinical trials on the acupuncture for treating musculoskeletal pain are needed. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0b382fe41b944f448ac211f5e582829f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-858X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Medicine |
| spelling | doaj-art-0b382fe41b944f448ac211f5e582829f2025-08-20T03:40:33ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Medicine2296-858X2025-08-011210.3389/fmed.2025.15752261575226Effects of acupuncture on musculoskeletal pain: an evidence mapLin Ang0Eunhye Song1Tae-Young Choi2Ji Hee Jun3Boram Lee4Mi Hong Yim5Hye Won Lee6Myeong Soo Lee7Korean Medicine Science Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of KoreaGlobal Cooperation Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of KoreaKorean Medicine Science Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of KoreaKorean Medicine Science Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of KoreaKorean Medicine Science Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of KoreaDigital Health Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of KoreaKorean Medicine Convergence Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of KoreaKorean Medicine Science Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of KoreaBackgroundMusculoskeletal pain is a leading cause of disability and reduced quality of life worldwide. Given the growing interest in complementary and alternative therapies, acupuncture has been widely explored as a potential treatment for alleviating musculoskeletal pain. This evidence map aimed to identify, describe, and summarize the current available evidence about acupuncture interventions on musculoskeletal pain.MethodsFor this map, searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), Web of Science, and Epistemonikos to identify systematic reviews (SRs) with meta-analysis published up to 23 August 2024. Included SRs were independently assessed for eligibility in pairs. The data from the eligible SRs were extracted and evaluated for methodological quality using AMSTAR 2. The findings were tabulated and mapped using bubble plots.ResultsA total of 111 SRs fulfilled the eligibility criteria and were included in this evidence map. All of the SRs included manual acupuncture or electroacupuncture. Comparators included in SRs involved active comparators, inactive comparators, sham acupuncture, and no intervention. The included 111 SRs were categorized into 35 musculoskeletal pain conditions. The short-term effects of acupuncture showed a positive effect across most comparators in major musculoskeletal pain. All included SRs were rated low or critically low in terms of methodological quality.ConclusionThis evidence map demonstrated that acupuncture has favorable effects on major musculoskeletal disorders. Further improvements in the quality of evidence should be prioritized and more clinical trials on the acupuncture for treating musculoskeletal pain are needed.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2025.1575226/fullevidence mapsystematic reviewoverviewacupuncturemusculoskeletal pain |
| spellingShingle | Lin Ang Eunhye Song Tae-Young Choi Ji Hee Jun Boram Lee Mi Hong Yim Hye Won Lee Myeong Soo Lee Effects of acupuncture on musculoskeletal pain: an evidence map Frontiers in Medicine evidence map systematic review overview acupuncture musculoskeletal pain |
| title | Effects of acupuncture on musculoskeletal pain: an evidence map |
| title_full | Effects of acupuncture on musculoskeletal pain: an evidence map |
| title_fullStr | Effects of acupuncture on musculoskeletal pain: an evidence map |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of acupuncture on musculoskeletal pain: an evidence map |
| title_short | Effects of acupuncture on musculoskeletal pain: an evidence map |
| title_sort | effects of acupuncture on musculoskeletal pain an evidence map |
| topic | evidence map systematic review overview acupuncture musculoskeletal pain |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2025.1575226/full |
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