ReviewIntegrative medicine research2025
Comparative effectiveness and safety of acupuncture vs metformin in insulin-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome women: A network meta-analysis of RCTs.
Review in Integrative medicine research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis 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
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled 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
Background: The purpose of this study was to conduct a network meta-analysis (NMA) comparing the effectiveness and safety of traditional acupuncture with metformin. This study aims to identify an effective and safe alternative treatment for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) complicated by insulin resistance (IR). Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane, ClinicalTrials.gov, and relevant citations for eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published up to August 12, 2024. Data extraction and bias assessment were performed by two independent reviewers, and Bayesian NMA was performed using the GeMTC package, with a random effects model. The NMA compared the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture with metformin which were measured using the Homeostasis Model Assessment Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) index, fasting plasma glucose, fasting insulin, and the incidence of adverse events (AEs). Results: We included 12 RCTs ( Conclusions: Acupuncture may be a potential alternative for PCOS women with IR, as it is equally effective, easier to perform, and relatively safer than metformin. Further trials are necessary to confirm these findings owing to the current lack of sufficient evidence.
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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.