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| Acupuncture for treating polycystic ovary syndrome: guidance for future randomized controlled trials |
| Yan Wu, Nicola Robinson, Paul J. Hardiman, Malcolm B. Taw, Jue Zhou, Fang-fang Wang, Fan Qu |
| Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, China; School of Health and Social Care, London South Bank University, London, SE1 0AA, UK; Institute for Women's Health, University College London Medical School, London, NW3 2PF, UK; UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Westlake Village, CA 91361, USA; College of Food Science and Biotechnology, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310018, China |
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Abstract Objective: To provide guidance for future randomized controlled trials (RCTs) based on a review concerning acupuncture for treating polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in October 2015 using MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCISEARCH, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group trials register, Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and the Wanfang databases. RCTs comparing either acupuncture with no/sham/pharmacological intervention or a combination of acupuncture and conventional therapy with conventional therapy in the treatment of PCOS were included in this review. A quality evaluation was performed for each of the included studies. Results: Thirty-one RCTs were included in the review and were divided into four categories according to the type of intervention used in the comparator or control group. Menstrual frequency, hormones, anthropometrics, insulin sensitivity, blood lipids, and fertility were used as the main measurements to assess the effects of acupuncture on the patients with PCOS. Thirty trials, except for one, showed an improvement in at least one of the indicators of PCOS after acupuncture treatment. However, normalizing the methodological and reporting format remains an issue. Conclusions: Based upon this review of current clinical trials concerning acupuncture for treating PCOS, we provide guidelines for better clinical trial design in the future.
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Received: 03 December 2015
Published: 07 March 2016
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