The Clinical Effect of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Table 2

Interventions and outcome assessment of included studies.

Study	Diagnostic criteria for OSAHS	Duration of treatment	Experimental treatment	Control treatment	Main outcome
Freire et al., 2007 [22]	PSG; 15 < AHI < 30	10 weeks	MA: (Gv20, Li20, Ren23, P6, Lu7, Li4, St36, St40, Sp6, Kd6) 30 min, deqi	Control: weight reduction advice and sleep hygiene counseling; SA: (acupoints were 1 cun from the real point) 30 min, no manipulation	AHI, AI, HI, mean SaO2
Chen et al., 2008 [23]	PSG; AHI > 5	20 days	MA: (Cv23, Panglianquan, Si17, L7, K6, Sp4, Cv17, S40, H7, Sp6, extra6) 30 min, deqi	nCPAP: once a day, 20 days in total	AHI, AI, HI, mean SaO2
Freire et al., 2010 [24]	PSG; 15 < AHI < 30	1 night	MA: (Lu6, Lu7, Li4, Li20, Gv20, Cv23, St36, St40, Sp6, Ki6, Extra12) 30 min, deqi; 2 Hz EA: (Cv23, Extra12, Li4, St36) 30 min, 0.6–0.8 mA, 2 Hz; 10 Hz EA: (Cv23, Extra12, Li4, St36) 30 min, 0.6–0.8 mA, 10 Hz	No specific treatment reported	AHI, AI, HI, mean SaO2
Zhang, 2014 [25]	PSG; AHI > 5	20 days	2 Hz EA: (Cv23, Panglianquan) once a day	No specific treatment reported	AHI, AI, HI
Zhang et al. 2014 [26]	PSG; AHI > 5	4 weeks	MA: (Li11, S25, Sp9, S40, Liv3) 30 min, deqi; weight reduction advice and smoking cessation	nCPAP: details are not reported; weight reduction advice and smoking cessation	AHI, mean SaO2
Song et al., 2015 [27]	PSG; AHI > 15	6 weeks	nCPAP + 2 Hz EA: (Extra8, Extra9, Extra6, H7, St36, Sp6, K6) 2 Hz, 30 min	nCPAP: 3 times a week, 6 weeks in total	AHI

Note. MA: manual acupuncture; SA: sham acupuncture; EA: electroacupuncture; nCPAP: nasal continuous positive airway pressure; PSG: polysomnography; AHI: apnea/hypopnea index; HI: hypopnea index; AI: apnea index.