Acupuncture for infertile women without undergoing assisted reproductive techniques (ART): A systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Acupuncture is widely used for infertile women without undergoing assisted reproductive techniques (ART) in China but its effect is unclear. We aim to assess whether acupuncture and its combined therapy exert a positive influence on the outcome of female fertility.

Methods

We searched 6 databases, including Medline, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), the China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), and Wan-Fang Data, from inception to June 2018. Studies of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on women with infertility treated by acupuncture or its combined therapy were included. A meta-analysis was performed using Revman 5.3. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed through the risk of bias assessment tool by the Cochrane Collaboration.

Results

The pregnancy rate was significantly improved with treatment (RR?=?1.84, 95% CI 1.62 to 2.10, P?ConclusionsAcupuncture and its combined therapy may be effective for treating female infertility. However, the included studies are not robust enough to draw a firm conclusion due to the not robustly sampled quality of the included studies. Future high-quality RCTs are needed to confirm our findings.

SUBMITTER: Yun L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6709164 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature