Accumulating research suggests that psychotherapy helps improve abstinence but the difference in the efficacy of multiple psychotherapies in alcohol use disorder (AUD) remains to be explored. Patients and Methods: A systematic search of databases (Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and EBSCO) for studies (published from inception to April 10th.) of adults diagnosed with AUD accepting psychotherapies was conducted. Studies covering 9 countries and regions. The qualitative analysis pooled 2646 individuals from 34 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and the networks included 1928 participants (23 RCTs). The outcomes included percentage of days abstinent (PDA), change in drinks per drinking day (change in DDD), and change in craving compared among individuals accepting various psychotherapies. The protocol followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), and was registered on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO). Results: For the network of PDA, motivational enhancement treatment (MET) (35.44, 11.78 to 59.09, high-certainty) and couple therapy (CT) (28.89, 13.42 to 44.36, moderate-certainty) were significantly different from treatment as usual (TAU) with the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) mean rank 1.9 and 1.9 respectively. TAU+supportive psychotherapy (SP) was better than TAU for the change in DDD in the high-quality direct comparison. Conclusion:The motivational enhancement and the couple therapy show potential amelioration for alcohol abstinence. Additionally, the preferred interventions are different for improving PDA and change in DDD. The evidence network remains to be strengthened.

Background: To assess the effect of acupoint stimulation for Alcohol use disorders (AUD).Methods: AUD is a complex disease that threatens the health of the global population. Acupoint stimulation, a sort of therapy applying stimulation on acupoints to produce a therapeutic effect without side effects, has been widely used in AUD patients, but its efficacy remains controversial. Electronic databases (the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PubMed, CNKI, VIP, Wan-Fang) were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on acupoint stimulation for AUD from database inception to September 30, 2022. A meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.4 software. Continuous data (scales) were expressed as mean differences (MDs) or standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Study methodological quality was assessed according to the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for trials. The grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation was used to assess the certainty of evidence for outcomes.Results: A total of 16 RCTs with 1097 participants were included. Compared to psychotherapy or drug therapy alone, the combination of acupoint stimulation and other sorts of therapies presented advantages in alleviating alcohol craving (SMD = -1.09, 95% CI = -1.40 to -0.77, df = 2, P < .00001, grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation very low certainty), (SMD = -2.25, 95% CI = -3.17 to -1.34, df = 3, P < .00001, low certainty) and the severity of alcohol withdrawal symptoms (MD = -1.21, 95% CI = -2.32 to -0.1, df = 2, P = .03, low certainty), as well as improving anxiety (MD = -3.41, 95% CI = -4.06 to -2.76, df = 4, P < .00001, very low certainty) and depression levels (MD = -3.27, 95% CI = -4.92 to -1.62, df = 4, P = .0001, very low certainty) on patients with AUD. In addition, a greater effect was also found with the 4-week treatment courses in reducing craving (SMD = -2.18, 95% CI = -2.61 to -1.75, P < .00001, low certainty). Conclusion:Acupoint stimulation and its combined therapy may better relieve AUD symptoms effectively and the treatment duration should be set at more than 2 weeks. However, due to the low-quality of the included RCTs, high-quality studies are needed to further confirm it in the future.