Acupuncture for neck pain caused by cervical spondylosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Abstract

IntroductionNeck pain causes serious social and economic burden. Research on the use of acupuncture for managing cervical spondylosis has increased over time, with the quality of studies showing an improved trend. The present study seeks to use a systematic review approach to understand efficacy and safety of acupuncture for treatment of neck pain caused by cervical spondylosis.Methods and analysisWe will search PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese BioMedical Literature, Wanfang database and VIP databases, from their inception to July 2020, to identify and retrieve all randomised controlled trials, describing the use of acupuncture for treatment of cervical spondylosis. Thereafter, two reviewers will independently select the studies, extract data and assess the risk of bias. Any disagreements, between them, will be resolved through a discussion with a third reviewer. Data synthesis and statistical analyses will be performed using the Revman V.5.3 software. Specifically, data will be synthesised by either fixed-effects (heterogeneity less than 50%) or random-effects models, following a heterogeneity test, with outcome measures focusing on pain intensity, functional disability, psychological improvements and adverse events. In cases where no considerable heterogeneity is detected, a meta-analysis will be conducted.Ethics and disseminationNo ethical approval will be required for this study, since it does not infringe on anyone’s interests. The findings will be published in a peer-reviewed journal or disseminated through conferences.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020152379.

Is mesenchymal stem cell effective for allergic rhinitis? A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…If any disagreements occur, the risk assignment will be settled through arbitration of a third reviewer. 27 …”

“…The list will include the basic information (author, title, journal, year of publication and country of publication), study design (study size, randomisation, allocation concealment, blinding methods, type of interventions and treatment duration), outcome measures and conflicts of interest. If necessary, a third reviewer will double-check the data to ensure consistency 27…”

“…The response options for an overall risk-of-bias judgement are the same as for individual domains. If any disagreements occur, the risk assignment will be settled through arbitration of a third reviewer 27…”

“…If necessary, a third reviewer will double-check the data to ensure consistency. 27 If data are missing or incomplete in any study, we will contact the authors to obtain these data. In the absence of available data, we will delete the study.…”

In Reference to “Bibliometric Analysis of Research Trends on Acupuncture for Neck Pain Treatment Over the Past 20 Years”[Letter]

“…Moreover, the authors’ simple search strategy needs to be questioned whether it is validated enough to comprehensively identify eligible publications related to acupuncture for neck pain treatment as far as possible. With references to similar literature researches, other key terms related to neck pain (eg cervicodynia*, cervicalgia*, cervicogenic pain, neckache) 2 , 3 and acupuncture therapy (eg warm needling, fire needing, plum blossom needling, electro-acupuncture) 4 , 5 should be added to improve the sensitivity and comprehensiveness of literature retrievals.…”