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Review
. 2020 Aug 5:2020:7908067.
doi: 10.1155/2020/7908067. eCollection 2020.

Methodology and Reporting Quality Evaluation of Acupuncture for Mild Cognitive Impairment: An Overview of Systematic Reviews

Tinghui Hou  1 , Qianhua Zheng  1 , Xiumei Feng  1 , Lu Wang  1 , Ying Liu  1 , Ying Li  2
Affiliations
Review

Methodology and Reporting Quality Evaluation of Acupuncture for Mild Cognitive Impairment: An Overview of Systematic Reviews

Tinghui Hou et al. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. .

Abstract

Objective: Since there is no consistent evidence on the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of mild cognitive impairment, this review aims to summarize and critically evaluate the methodological and reporting quality of systematic reviews (SRs).

Methods: We comprehensively searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), Chinese Biomedical Literature (CBM), and Wanfang databases from the date of establishment to April 2019. Two authors independently selected the articles, collected the data, and assessed the identified and included SRs with the revised measurement tool to assess systematic reviews (AMSTAR 2) and preferred reporting items for SRs and meta-analyses (PRISMA). The quality of outcomes was evaluated by the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE).

Results: Eleven SRs were included in this overview. The items of AMSTAR 2 in most SRs were poorly reported; only 3 SRs were rated as low quality by AMSTAR 2, and the remaining were rated as very low quality. A total of 8 SRs obtained a decent rating by PRISMA. With the GRADE tool, we have not found high-quality evidence that acupuncture is effective for mild cognitive impairment (MCI), so there is no certain conclusion on the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment for MCI.

Conclusion: The methodological and reporting quality of SRs on acupuncture for MCI is substandard, and the quality of evidence is poor. In future research, more efforts are needed to improve the quality of SRs in this field.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest concerning this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of literature selection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of studies with “Yes” for each AMSTAR 2 item.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentage of studies with “Yes” for each PRISMA item.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of the OR/MD value (95% CI) of the MMSE in included SRs.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparison of the MD value (95% CI) of MoCA in included SRs.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Comparison of the MD value (95% CI) of ADL in included SRs.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Comparison of the MD value (95% CI) of MBI in included SRs.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Comparison of the MD value (95% CI) of the effective rate in included SRs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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