Effect of acupuncture for non-motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Qinglian Li; Chunxiao Wu; Xiaoling Wang; Zhen Li; Xiaoqian Hao; Lijun Zhao; Mengzhu Li; Meiling Zhu

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2022.995850

Effect of acupuncture for non-motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Oct 6:14:995850. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.995850. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Qinglian Li¹, Chunxiao Wu^{1

2}, Xiaoling Wang¹, Zhen Li¹, Xiaoqian Hao¹, Lijun Zhao¹, Mengzhu Li¹, Meiling Zhu¹

Affiliations

¹ Shenzhen Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China.
² The Research Center of Basic Integrative Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: Although non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) are serious, effective treatments are still lacking. Acupuncture may have clinical benefits for non-motor symptoms of PD patients, but high-quality evidence supporting this possibility is still limited. Hence, we conducted this meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of acupuncture treatment on non-motor symptoms in patients with PD.

Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture treatment for PD were retrieved from the following electronic databases: Medline (OVID), Embase (OVID), Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, Chonqing VIP (CQVIP), and Wangfang database. Studies evaluating non-motor symptoms of PD were retrieved. Methodological quality was assessed using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.

Results: A total of 27 RCTs were included, among which 8 outcomes related to non-motor symptoms were evaluated. The results showed that acupuncture combined with medication had benefits for PD-related insomnia relative to medication alone or sham acupuncture [standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.517; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.242-0.793; p = 0.000], and acupuncture treatment had benefits at 8 weeks (SMD = 0.519; 95% CI = 0.181-0.857; p = 0.003). Regarding depression, acupuncture treatment was more effective (SMD = -0.353; 95% CI = -0.669 to -0.037; p = 0.029) within 2 months (SMD = -0.671; 95% CI = -1.332 to -0.011; p = 0.046). Regarding cognition, quality of life, and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) I and II scores, acupuncture treatment was effective [SMD = 0.878, 95% CI = 0.046-1.711, p = 0.039; SMD = -0.690, 95% CI = -1.226 to -0.155, p = 0.011; weighted mean difference (WMD) = -1.536, 95% CI = -2.201 to -0.871, p = 0.000; WMD = -2.071, 95% CI = -3.792 to -0.351, p = 0.018; respectively]. A significant difference was not found in terms of PD-related constipation. Only one study evaluated PD-related fatigue.

Conclusion: The results of the analysis suggested that acupuncture treatment could ameliorate the symptoms of depression, quality of life, cognition, total mentation, behavior and mood, and activities of daily living in PD patients. Nevertheless, more prospective, well-designed RCTs with larger sample sizes are required to confirm our findings.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; acupuncture; meta-analysis; non-motor symptoms; randomized controlled trial.