AEs Grouped According to Study Design
| Authors | Treatment Arm, No. of AEs/No. of Patients (%)a | Control Arm, No. of AEs/No. of Patients (%)a | Total No. of AEs/No. of Patients (%)a |
|---|---|---|---|
| RCTs | |||
| Needle acupuncture in both arms | |||
| Shenkman et al45 (1999) | 10/47 (21.2) | 8/53 (15.1) | 18/100 (18.0) |
| Ng et al46 (2004) | 5/32 (15.6) | 4/31 (12.9) | 9/63 (14.3) |
| Wong et al52 (2010) | 30/30 (100.0) | NR/25 (—) | 30/30 (100.0) |
| Total | 45/109 (41.3) | 12/84 (14.2) | 57/193 (29.5) |
| Needle acupuncture compared to acupressure | |||
| Sun et al47 (2004) | 4/22 (18.2) | 2/11 (18.2) | 6/33 (18.2) |
| Wong and Sun51 (2010) | 25/25 (100.0) | NR/25 (—) | 25/25 (100.0) |
| Total | 29/47 (61.7) | 2/11 (18.2) | 31/58 (53.4) |
| Needle acupuncture compared to other conventional treatment | |||
| Reindl et al48 (2006) | 1/11 (9.1) | 0/11 (0.0) | 1/22 (4.5) |
| Gottschling et al49 (2008) | 4/23 (17.4) | 0/23 (0.0) | 4/46 (8.7) |
| Leung et al50 (2009) | 2/15 (13.3) | 0/20 (0.0) | 2/35 (5.7) |
| Total | 7/49 (14.3) | 0/54 (0.0) | 7/103 (6.8) |
| RCTs total | 81/205 (39.5) | 14/149 (9.4) | 95/354 (26.8) |
| Single-arm cohort studies | |||
| Wong et al55 (2001) | 3/10 (33.3) | NA | 3/10 (33.3) |
| Endres et al56 (2004) | 64/1109 (5.8) | NA | 64/1109 (5.8) |
| Wong et al57 (2006) | 4/12 (33.3) | NA | 4/12 (33.3) |
| Chen et al58 (2008) | 4/2 (200.0) | NA | 4/2 (200.0) |
| Cohort total | 75/1133 (6.6) | NA | 75/1133 (6.6) |
| Total | 156/1338 (11.7) | 14/149 (9.4) | 170/1487 (11.4) |
NR indicates not reported; —, could not be calculated; NA, not applicable.
↵a AEs were reported at least once per patient.