PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Zishan Gao
AU  - Carlo Maria Giovanardi
AU  - Hongxiao Li
AU  - Chen Hao
AU  - Qian Li
AU  - Xu Zhang
AU  - Ulrich Mansmann
TI  - Acupuncture for migraine: a protocol for a meta-analysis and meta-regression of randomised controlled trials
AID  - 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022998
DP  - 2018 Nov 01
TA  - BMJ Open
PG  - e022998
VI  - 8
IP  - 11
4099  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/11/e022998.short
4100  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/11/e022998.full
SO  - BMJ Open2018 Nov 01; 8
AB  - Introduction Although the effectiveness of acupuncture for episodic migraine has been confirmed by multiple clinical trials and Cochrane systematic reviews, the mechanisms underlying the specific effect of acupuncture for migraine remain controversial. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for both episodic migraine and chronic migraine by meta-analysis and explore the possible factors influencing the specific effect of acupuncture for migraine by meta-regression.Methods and analysis We will search for randomised control trials of acupuncture for migraine in the following eight databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED (via OVID) and four Chinese databases (Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database and Wanfang Database) from inception to 31 December 2017. We will also search OpenSIGLE (opensigle.inist.fr) for conference abstracts. No language restriction will be applied. The selection of studies, data extraction and coding and assessment of risk of bias of the included studies will be conducted independently by two reviewers. Standard meta-analysis and, if appropriate, meta-regression will be performed using the R packages Meta and Metafor.Ethics and dissemination The results of this meta-analysis and meta-regression will be disseminated through publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at a relevant conference. The data used in this meta-analysis will not contain individual patient data; therefore, ethical approval is not required.PROSPERO registration number CRD42018087270.