SynthesisFrontiers in endocrinology2025
Efficacy and safety of acupuncture as an adjuvant therapy for osteoporosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in Frontiers in endocrinology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Evaluating combined acupuncture and antiresorptive therapy in Chinese women with postmenopausal osteoporosis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Pooled it
- A bibliometric analysis of acupuncture applied to primary osteoporosis.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture as an adjuvant therapy for osteoporosis (OP) through a comprehensive synthesis of recent randomized controlled trial (RCT) evidence. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted across PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, and Wanfang databases (2014 - 2024) to identify RCTs investigating acupuncture combined with conventional therapy for OP. Study quality was appraised using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool, and meta-analyses were performed using RevMan 5.4 and Stata 15.0, with subgroup analyses stratified by intervention type, population characteristics, and treatment duration. Results: 28 RCTs (n=2,758) were included. Meta-analysis revealed acupuncture significantly enhanced bone mineral density (BMD) versus controls: total (SMD = 0.47, Conclusion: Acupuncture demonstrates efficacy and safety as an OP adjuvant therapy. Current evidence is limited by regional bias and methodological heterogeneity. Multicenter, large-sample RCTs are needed to standardize protocols and validate long-term therapeutic efficacy. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42024499354.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.