Meta-Analysis of Acupuncture for Cancer-Related Fatigue, 28 RCTs

Hongxiao Zhang's systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the effectiveness of acupuncture for cancer-related fatigue (CRF). The analysis includes 28 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) sourced from eight databases up to April 2025. The results suggest acupuncture may alleviate CRF, but the evidence quality is rated as low or very low.

Use Cases

• Evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture interventions based on the Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS) meta-analysis results
• Assessing methodological quality and publication bias in RCTs on cancer-related fatigue
• Comparing different acupuncture modalities based on subgroup analyses mentioned in the description
• Applying GRADE criteria to rate evidence quality for clinical guidelines

Strengths

• Includes 28 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for analysis
• Meta-analysis performed using R studio 4.4 and RevMan software (version 5.4)
• Systematic review registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024603184)

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• The risk of bias assessment indicated low overall study quality, and sensitivity analyses yielded unstable results

Provenance

Source

Hongxiao Zhang

Collection Method

Systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs from eight databases

Time Range

Studies searched from inception to April 2025

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-05 04:13:37; freshness should be verified