Abstract
ObjectiveTo systematically summarise acupuncture-related Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs)’s clinical and methodological characteristics and critically appraise their methodology quality.DesignWe summarised the characteristics of the guidelines and recommendations and evaluated their methodological quality using the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument.Data sourcesNine databases were searched from 1 January 2010 to 20 September 2020.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesWe included the latest version of acupuncture CPGs, which must have used at least one systematic review addressing the benefits and harms of alternative care options to inform acupuncture recommendations.Data extraction and synthesisReviewers, working in pairs, independently screened and extracted data. When there are statistical differences among types of CPGs, we reported the data by type in the text, but when not, we reported the overall data.ResultsOf the 133 eligible guidelines, musculoskeletal and connective tissue diseases proved the most commonly addressed therapeutic areas. According to the AGREE II instrument, the CPG was moderate quality in the domain of clarity of scope and purpose, clarity of presentation, the rigour of development, stakeholder involvement and low quality in editorial independence, and applicability. The study identified 433 acupuncture-related recommendations; 380 recommended the use of acupuncture, 28 recommended against the use of acupuncture and 25 considered acupuncture but did not make recommendations. Of the 303 recommendations that used Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation to determine the strength of recommendations, 152 were weak recommendations, 131 were strong recommendations, of which 104 were supported by low or very low certainty evidence (discordant recommendations).ConclusionIn the past 10 years, a large number of CPGs addressing acupuncture interventions exist. Although these guidelines may be as or more rigorous than many others, considerable room for improvement remains.
Funder
Graduate Research Innovation Project of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine
the special project of "Lingnan modernization of traditional Chinese medicine" in 2019 Guangdong Provincial R & D Program
the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central public welfare research institutes
the Youth Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China
the Chinese Medicine Innovation Team Project of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine
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9 articles.
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