The Effect of Acupuncture on the Quality of Life in Patients With Migraine: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Acupuncture is frequently used as an efficient method to prevent and treat migraines. However, its effect on the quality of life remains controversial.Methods: Seven databases, such as PubMed and Cochrane Library were searched to retrieve reference lists of eligible trials and related reviews. Randomized controlled trials that were published in Chinese and English were included.Results: Acupuncture resulted in lower Visual Analog Scale scores than the medication group at 1 month after treatment (MD −1.22, 95%CI −1.57 to −0.87; low quality) and 1–3 months after treatment (MD −1.81, 95%CI −3.42 to −0.20; low quality). Compared with sham acupuncture, acupuncture resulted in lower Visual Analog Scale scores at 1 month after treatment (MD −1.56, 95%CI −2.21 to −0.92; low quality).Conclusion: Acupuncture exhibits certain efficacy both in the treatment and prevention of migraines, which is superior to no treatment, sham acupuncture and medication. Further, acupuncture enhanced the quality of life more than did medication.

Acupuncture and Its Role in the Treatment of Migraine Headaches

“…Patients were followed for 24 weeks in total At 16 weeks, the frequency of migraine attacks decreased the most with acupuncture (mean [SD] 3.2 [2.1]) compared with sham acupuncture (2.1 [2.5]) or with no treatment (1.4 [2.5]). The acupuncture group also had the significantly lowest frequency of migraine attacks, migraine days, and VAS scores at each follow-up time-point between weeks 4 and 24 True acupuncture might be more efficacious in the long-term treatment of migraines without aura compared with sham acupuncture or being on a waiting list Jiang et al (2018) [ 54 ] 62 RCTs involving 4947 total patients diagnosed with migraines (± aura) Patients either received no treatment, sham acupuncture, medication, or treatment acupuncture The acupuncture group had lower VAS scores than the medication group at 1 month post-treatment (mean difference 1.22, 95% CI − 1.57 to − 0.87) and at 1–3 months post-treatment (− 1.81, 95% CI − 3.42 to − 0.20). The acupuncture group also had lower scores at 1 month post-treatment than sham acupuncture (− 1.56, 95% CI − 2.21 to − 0.92).…”

“…Furthermore, the analysis showed that acupuncture had a lower risk than medication of causing adverse events (risk difference − 0.16, 95% CI − 0.25 to − 0.06). The authors concluded that acupuncture is more effective than no treatment, sham treatment, or medication in treating and preventing migraines and that it is also associated with a greater enhancement in quality of life compared to medication [ 54 ].…”

Diagnosis and treatment of migraine: Russian experts' recommendations

“…Иглорефлексотерапия рекомендуется в качестве профилактического лечения мигрени, эффективна при ее эпизодической и хронической форме [109][110][111].…”

Developing and employing a ‘responsive manualization’ in the ‘Acupuncture Approaches to Decrease Disparities in Outcomes of Pain Treatment’ comparative effectiveness study

“…Acupuncture has been shown to be effective in the treatment of chronic pain conditions 9–12 including shoulder pain, 13 chronic low back pain, 14–16 neck pain, 14,17 knee pain from OA, 18,19 headache 20,21 and temporomandibular disorders. 22 Moreover, an individual patient meta-analysis of 39 trials (20,837 patients) found clear evidence that the effects of acupuncture persist over time with only a small decrease (15%) in treatment effect at 1 year.…”