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Meta-Analysis
. 2023 Jun 16;102(24):e34039.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000034039.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the anti-obesity effect of cupping therapy

Doyoung Kang  1 , Woo-Chul Shin  1   2 , Taeoh Kim  1   2 , Sungha Kim  3 , Hyungsuk Kim  1   2 , Jae-Heung Cho  1   2 , Mi-Yeon Song  1   2 , Won-Seok Chung  1   2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the anti-obesity effect of cupping therapy

Doyoung Kang et al. Medicine (Baltimore). .

Abstract

Background: Cupping therapy is a common practice in Korean medicine. Despite developments in this clinical and research area, the current knowledge is insufficient to identify the effects of cupping therapy on obesity. We aimed to assess the effects and safety of cupping therapy on obesity by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of cupping therapy.

Methods: A systematic search of databases was conducted, including MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Citation Information by the National Institute of Informatics, KoreaMed, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, and ScienceON, for full-text randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published through January 14, 2023, with no language restrictions. The experimental groups received cupping therapy combined with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and conventional therapy. The control groups received no treatment, conventional therapy, or TCM treatments alone. The experimental and control groups were compared in terms of body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), hip circumference (HC), waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR), and body fat percentage (BFP). We evaluated the risk of bias using the 7 domains stipulated by the Cochrane Collaboration Group and performed a meta-analysis using Cochrane Collaboration software (Review Manager Software Version 5.3).

Results: A total of 21 RCTs were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The analysis revealed improvements in BW (P < .001), BMI (P < .001), HC (P = .03), and WC (P < .001). However, there were no clinically significant changes in WHR (P = .65) or BFP (P = .90), both of which had very low certainty of evidence. No adverse events were reported.

Conclusion: Overall, our results show that cupping therapy can be used to treat obesity in terms of BW, BMI, HC, and WC and is a safe intervention for the treatment of obesity. However, the conclusions of this review should be interpreted with caution in clinical practice because of the uncertain quality of the included studies.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow diagram of the study.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Risk of bias graph.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Summary of risk of bias.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Body weight showing subgroup analysis by treatment types. EA = electroacupuncture, ET = embedding therapy, GT = Guasha therapy, HM = herbal medicine, MA = manual acupuncture, WA = warm acupuncture.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Forest plot for body mass index showing subgroup analysis by treatment types. EA = electroacupuncture, ET = embedding therapy, GT = Guasha therapy, HM = herbal medicine, MA = manual acupuncture, WA = warm acupuncture.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Forest plot for hip circumference (subgroup analyzed by treatment types). EA = electroacupuncture, ET = embedding therapy, GT = Guasha therapy, MA = manual acupuncture, WA = warm acupuncture.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Forest plot for waist circumference (subgroup analyzed by treatment types). EA = electroacupuncture, ET = embedding therapy, GT = Guasha therapy, MA = manual acupuncture, WA = warm acupuncture.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Forest plot for waist hip ratio (subgroup analyzed by treatment types). EA = electroacupuncture, ET = embedding therapy, GT = Guasha therapy, MA = manual acupuncture.
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
Forest plot for body fat percentage (subgroup analyzed by treatment types). EA = electroacupuncture, GT = Guasha therapy, HM = herbal medicine, MA = manual acupuncture.
Figure 10.
Figure 10.
Funnel plot for the outcomes of body weight. EA = electroacupuncture, ET = embedding therapy, GT = Guasha therapy, HM = herbal medicine, MA = manual acupuncture, WA = warm acupuncture.
Figure 11.
Figure 11.
Funnel plot for the outcomes of body mass index. EA = electroacupuncture, ET = embedding therapy, GT = Guasha therapy, HM = herbal medicine, MA = manual acupuncture, WA = warm acupuncture.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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