Utility of Acupuncture Therapy for Adult Chronic Daily Headache Prophylaxis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic daily headache (CDH) management remains challenging due to limited efficacy of standard preventive pharmacotherapies. Acupuncture has shown promise in chronic headache management. This study evaluated its sustained prophylactic efficacy for CDH. MATERIAL AND METHODS Following PRISMA guidelines, we systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP, Sinomed, and Wanfang Data (inception to September 2025) for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing acupuncture with other interventions for CDH. Primary outcomes included headache frequency, days, intensity, duration, and analgesic use; subgroup analyses covered treatment modality, CDH subtype, and duration. RESULTS Twenty-two RCTs (1449 patients) were included. Compared with control, acupuncture significantly reduced headache frequency (mean difference [MD], -0.32; P=0.001), headache days (MD, -0.72; P<0.00001), intensity (standardized mean difference [SMD], -0.63; P=0.001), duration (SMD, -1.18; P=0.0001), and analgesic use (MD, -0.52; P<0.00001) after the intervention. These benefits persisted during follow-up: headache days (standardized mean difference [SMD], -0.70; P<0.00001), intensity (SMD, -1.11; P=0.008), duration (SMD, -1.83; P=0.003), and analgesic use (SMD, -0.60; P=0.007) remained reduced; headache frequency showed a trend toward reduction (SMD, -0.47; P=0.05). Subgroup analyses revealed consistent efficacy across various CDH subtypes, including chronic migraine and…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a meta-analysis, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 1,449 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Calcium Ions in the Physiology and Pathology of the Central Nervous System
- AI-powered in silico twins: redefining precision medicine through simulation, personalization, and predictive healthcare
- In silico functional, structural and pathogenicity analysis of missense single nucleotide polymorphisms in human MCM6 gene
- In Silico drug repurposing pipeline using deep learning and structure based approaches in epilepsy
- Targeting serotonin receptors with phytochemicals – an in-silico study
- In silico exploration of anti-prostate cancer compounds from differential expressed genes
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.