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Meta-Analysis
. 2018 Nov 14:26:e3094.
doi: 10.1590/1518-8345.2888.3094.

Cupping therapy and chronic back pain: systematic review and meta-analysis

[Article in English, Portuguese, Spanish]
Caroline de Castro Moura  1 , Érika de Cássia Lopes Chaves  2 , Ana Carolina Lima Ramos Cardoso  1 , Denismar Alves Nogueira  3 , Hérica Pinheiro Corrêa  1 , Tânia Couto Machado Chianca  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Cupping therapy and chronic back pain: systematic review and meta-analysis

[Article in English, Portuguese, Spanish]
Caroline de Castro Moura et al. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem. .

Abstract

Objectives: to evaluate the evidence from the literature regarding the effects of cupping therapy on chronic back pain in adults, the most used outcomes to evaluate this condition, the protocol used to apply the intervention and to investigate the effectiveness of cupping therapy on the intensity of chronic back pain.

Method: systematic review and meta-analysis carried out by two independent researchers in national and international databases. Reference lists of systematic reviews were also explored. The quality of evidence was assessed according to the Jadad scale.

Results: 611 studies were identified, of which 16 were included in the qualitative analysis and 10 in the quantitative analysis. Cupping therapy has shown positive results on chronic back pain. There is no standardization in the treatment protocol. The main assessed outcomes were pain intensity, physical incapacity, quality of life and nociceptive threshold before the mechanical stimulus. There was a significant reduction in the pain intensity score through the use of cupping therapy (p = 0.001).

Conclusion: cupping therapy is a promising method for the treatment of chronic back pain in adults. There is the need to establish standardized application protocols for this intervention.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flowchart of literature search and selection process. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, 2018
Figure 2
Figure 2. Characterization of the studies regarding the applied intervention, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, 2018 (n=16)
Figure 3
Figure 3. Evaluated outcomes, measurement tools, number of evaluations and interval between them. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, 2018. (n=16)
Figure 4
Figure 4. Intervention protocol. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, 2018 (n=16)
Figure 5
Figure 5. Forest plot of the pain intensity score. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, 2018
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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