SynthesisFrontiers in neurology
Acupuncture effects on non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (sleep, mood, and fatigue): a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in neurology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) causes multiple non-motor symptoms (NMSs), such as insomnia, anxiety, and fatigue, that worsen the quality of life. Pharmacological options offer limited relief, prompting interest in acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy. Methods: Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines (PROSPERO CRD420251172700), PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched from 1 Jan 2015 to 28 Oct 2025 for randomized and controlled observational studies comparing manual or electroacupuncture with sham or usual care in idiopathic PD. Outcomes were sleep quality (PDSS and PDSS-2), mood (HAM-A, HAM-D, HADS, and BDI), and fatigue (MFIS, FSS, and FACIT-F). Two reviewers independently extracted data, assessed bias with RoB 2 and ROBINS-I, and rated certainty using GRADE. Only sleep (PDSS) outcomes from two RCTs were quantitatively pooled; mood and fatigue outcomes were narratively summarized because only single trials were available. Objectives: Unlike prior reviews that pooled diverse non-motor outcomes and comparator conditions, this review focuses on sleep disturbance, anxiety/depression, and fatigue in idiopathic PD and includes sham-controlled evidence up to 28 October 2025. It differs from recent network meta-analytic approaches by emphasizing symptom-specific, sham/usual-care controlled effect estimates and aligning certainty judgments with RoB 2/ROBINS-I and GRADE. Where data permitted, we assessed robustness using leave-one-out and fixed- versus random-effects sensitivity checks; meta-regression was not feasible due to the small number of trials. Results: Twenty-five full-text reports were assessed, and eight primary studies met the inclusion criteria (4 RCTs and 4 observational). Two sham-controlled sleep RCTs (total Conclusion: Acupuncture shows a moderate-certainty signal for improving sleep quality in PD. Evidence for anxiety is preliminary, based on one RCT with the main signal observed at follow-up, and requires replication. Evidence for fatigue is very uncertain and does not show superiority over sham. Larger multicenter RCTs with standardized protocols and ≥6-month follow-up are needed.
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.