Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture for Migraine: An Overview of Systematic Reviews

Table 5

Summary of evidence.

Author (year)	Outcomes (total patient number in the intervention group/total patient number in the control group or total participants in both groups, number of studies)
Acupuncture vs sham-acupuncture
Gao (2011)	Effective rate (OR = 1.28, 95% C (1.02, 1.61), ) (650/603, 8)
Zheng (2012)	Effective rate (RR = 1.87, 95% CI (1.17, 2.98), ) (91/54, 3)
Chen (2014)	Effective rate (RR = 1.19, 95% CI (1.13, 1.25), ), (596/438, 13); headache times (SMD = 0.75, 95% CI (0.42, 1.08), ), (362/288, 7); headache degree (SMD = 0.47, 95% CI (−0.17, 1.10), ) (330/258, 6); headache duration (SMD = 0.62, 95% CI (0.46, 0.78), ), (362/288, 7)
Yang (2014)	Short-term effective rate (RR = 1.27, 95% CI (1.11, 1.45), ), (414/409, 9); long-term effective rate (RR = 1.76, 95% CI (1.05, 2.94), ), (117/115, 4)
Zhao (2014)	Effective rate (RR = 1.18, 95% CI (1.09, 1.27), ) (619/410, 11)
Dai (2015)	Effective rate (OR = 4.85, 95% CI (1.69, 13.94), ), (65/51, 2)
Yang (2015)	Not effective rate (RR = 0.24, 95% CI (0.15, 0.38), ), (19/93, 4); recurrence rate (RR = 0.47, 95% CI (0.28, 0.81), ), (14/53, 2)
Linde (2016)	Headache frequency after treatment (SMD = −0.18, 95% CI (−0.28, −0.08), I^2 = 47%), (952/694, 12); headache frequency after follow-up (SMD = −0.18, 95% CI (−0.28, −0.08), I^2 = 47%), (896/638, 10)
PuJ (2016)	VAS score 2 h after acupuncture (MD = −0.38, 95% CI (−0.83, 0.07), ), (350/349, 4); reduced VAS score 2 h after acupuncture (MD = 0.36, 95% CI (0.08, 0.65), ), (290/289, 3); VAS score 4h after acupuncture (MD = −0.42, 95% CI (−0 .96, 0.12), ), (350/349, 4); reduced VAS score 4h after acupuncture (MD = 0.49, 95% CI (0.14, 0.84), ), (290/289, 3)
Xian (2016)	Effective rate at 1–2 months follow-up (RR = 1.06, 95% CI (0.92, 1.24), ), (508/462, 5); effective rate at 3–4 months follow-up (RR = 1.06, 95% CI (0.91, 1.22), ), (525/476, 6); effective rate at 5–6 months follow-up (RR = 1.11, 95% CI (0.96, 1.29), ), (515/470, 5); effective rate of more than 6 months follow-up (RR = 2.03, 95% CI (1.10, 3.74), ), (24/11, 2)
Xu (2018)	Headache frequency (MD = 1.05, 95% CI (1.75, 0.34); ), (120/120, 3); VAS score (MD = 1.19, 95% CI (1.75, 0.63); ), (84/84, 3)
Lu (2019)	Headache frequency (SMD = −0.97, 95% CI (−1.60,−0.34), ), (95/69, 3); headache duration (SMD = −0.73, 95% CI (−1.25,−0.21),) (86/82, 3); headache intensity (SMD = −0.67, 95% CI (−1.15, −0.19),), (553/490, 6)
Acupuncture vs western medicine
Zheng (2012)	Effective rate (RR = 1.24, 95% CI (1.16, 1.34), ), (1602/925, 28)
Linde (2016)	Headache frequency after treatment (SMD = −0.25, 95% CI (−0.39, −0.10)), (431/308, 3); headache frequency after follow-up (SMD = −0.13, 95% CI (−0.28, −0.01)), (436/308, 3)
Pu (2016)	Effective rate after 3–4 months(RR = 1.24, 95% CI (1.04, 1.47), ), (449/323, 4); effective rate after 5–6 months (RR = 1.18, CI (0.97, 1.43), ), (344/220, 2); headache days after 3–4 months (SMD = -0.30, 95% CI (−0.45,−0.16), ), (439/316, 4); headache days after 5–6 months (MD = −0.66, 95% CI (−1.18,−0.13), ), (344/220, 2); headache times after 3–4 months (MD = −0.32, 95% CI (−0.59,-0.04), ), (171/145, 3); headache times after 3–4 months (MD = −0.47, 95% CI (−1.22,−0.28), ), (131/106, 2); headache degree after 3–4 months (SMD = −0.11, 95% CI (−0.56, 0.33), ), (495/370, 4); headache degree after 5–6 months (SMD = −0.31, 95% CI (−0.47, −0.15), ), (385/261, 3); Times of using painkiller after 3–4 months(MD = −0.64, 95% CI (−1.93, 0.65), ), (207/181, 4); times of using painkiller after 5–6 months(SMD = −0.22, 95% CI (−0.44, 0.00), ), (174/147, 3)
Song (2016)	Short-term effective rate (RR = 2.76, 95% CI (2.03, 3.77), ), (616/602, 15); long-term effective rate(RR = 4.17, 95% CI (2.80, 6.20), ), (331/311, 7); headache times (RR = −0.79, 95% CI (−1.39, −0.20), ), (92/72, 2)
Xian (2016)	Effective rate at 0–1 months follow-up (RR = 1.66, 95% CI (1.16, 2.37), ), (180/160, 4); effective rate at 1–2 months follow-up (RR = 1.25, 95% CI (1.01, 1.55), ), (162/76, 2); effective rate at 3–4 months follow-up (RR = 1.55, 95% CI (1.09, 2.20), ), (239/125, 5); effective rate at 5–6 months follow-up (RR = 1.30, 95% CI (0.77, 2.19), ), (169/87, 2)
Zhao (2016)	Effective rate (RR = 1.18, 95% CI (1.09, 1.27), ), (649/497, 11);
Xu (2018)	Headache frequency (MD = 1.50; 95% CI (2.32, 0.68); ), (110/110, 2); VAS score (MD = 0.97, 95% CI (0.63, 1.31); ), (198/163, 3); effective rate (RR = 1.30; 95% CI (1.16, 1.45); ), (178/178, 6)
Lu (2019)	Headache frequency (SMD = −1.29, 95% CI (−1.85,−0.73), ), (512/486, 8); headache duration (SMD = −0.88, 95% CI (−1.32, −0.45), ) (445/427, 7)
Acupuncture vs Chinese herbal medicine
Zheng (2012)	Effective rate (RR = 1.29, 95% CI (1.14, 1.45), ), (111/81, 3)

CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risk; MD, mean difference; WMD, weighted mean difference; SMD, standardized mean difference, HR, hazard ratio; VAS, visual analogue scale.