Details of acupuncture interventions in the recommendations and remarks
| Description of acupuncture intervention | N (%) | P value | ||
| Comprehensive CPGs | T&CM CPGs | Acupuncture-specific CPGs | ||
| Type of acupuncture* (n=433) | ||||
| Manual acupuncture | 57 (50.4) | 37 (56.1) | 121 (47.6) | <0.001 |
| Electroacupuncture | 13 (11.5) | 13 (19.7) | 42 (16.5) | |
| Acupressure | 19 (16.8) | 2 (3.0) | 5 (2.0) | |
| Moxibustion, warm needling, fire needling | 6 (5.3) | 12 (18.2) | 55 (21.7) | |
| Other†| 26 (23.0) | 14 (21.2) | 97 (38.2) | |
| Not reported | 44 (38.9) | 14 (21.2) | 15 (5.9) | |
| Acupuncture alone or with other interventions* (n=433) | ||||
| Alone | 100 (88.5) | 42 (63.6) | 192 (75.6) | 0.006 |
| With conventional medicine | 4 (3.5) | 9 (13.6) | 16 (6.3) | |
| With Chinese herbal medicine | 2 (1.8) | 4 (6.1) | 5 (2.0) | |
| With Non-pharmacological interventions | 10 (8.8) | 14 (21.2) | 41 (16.1) | |
| Acupuncture points selection (n=433) | ||||
| Reported | 6 (5.3) | 20 (30.3) | 206 (81.1) | <0.001 |
| Not reported | 107 (94.7) | 46 (69.7) | 48 (18.9) | |
| Acupuncture points selection based onTraditional Chinese medicine syndromedifferentiation (n=433) | ||||
| Reported | 0 (0.0) | 1 (1.5) | 39 (15.4) | <0.001 |
| Not reported | 113 (100.0) | 65 (98.5) | 215 (84.6) | |
| Acupuncture points selection based onMeridian syndrome differentiation (n=433) | ||||
| Reported | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 5 (2.0) | 0.177 |
| Not reported | 113 (100.0) | 66 (100.0) | 249 (98.0) | |
*One recommendation can contribute to more than one category.
†Include laser acupuncture, microsystem acupuncture, thread-embedding therapy, medicine acicula, point injection, transcutaneous electrical nerve, acupoint paste; magnetic acupuncture, blood-letting therapy, acupotomy.
CPG, clinical practice guidelines; T&CM, traditional and complementary medicine.