Ear Acupressure for Allergic Rhinitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Table 2

Characteristics of 11 included studies.

Study ID	Sample size (E/C)	Male:female (E/C)	Age (E/C), year	Duration	Criteria of diagnose	Interventions		Period	Outcome measure
						Experimental group	Control group
Yuan et al., 2013 [38]	120 (60/60)	Not given	3–14	≥1 year	Mentioned	Ear acupressure	Levocabastine	30 days	Effective rate, IgE, PAF
Li et al., 2018 [42]	72 (36/36)	19 : 17/16 : 20	18–65	Not given	Mentioned	Ear acupressure	Beclomethasone propionate nasal spray	3 weeks	Effective rate
Han et al., 2006 [35]	80 (40/40)	24 : 16/21 : 19	10–50	1–15 years	Mentioned	Ear acupressure	Astemizole	14 days/3 months	Effective rate
Rao, 2005 [34]	81 (39/42)	24 : 25/26 : 21	13–65	1–40 years	Mentioned	Ear acupressure	Acupuncture	1 month/follow-up	Effective rate, symptom score, IgE, TFN-γ
Rao and Han, 2005a [45]	80 (39/41)	24 : 25/25 : 21	13–65	1–40 years	Mentioned	Ear acupressure	Cetirizine tablets	1 month/follow-up	Effective rate, symptom score, IgE, TFN-γ
Claire et al., 2014 [32]	245 (124/121)	Not given	18–70	≥2 years	Mentioned	Real ear acupressure	Sham ear acupressure	8 weeks	Primary outcome measures: nasal and nonnasal symptom scores. Secondary outcomes:QoL score, change of relief medication usage, adverse events (AEs), and credibility of blinding
Ou et al., 2012 [37]	60 (30/30)	15 : 15/13 : 17	18–51/18–52	4–60 weeks	Mentioned	Ear acupressure + conventional therapy	Conventional therapy (cetirizine)	4 weeks	Effective rate, VAS
Ye et al., 2008 [36]	80 (40/40)	Not given	10–61	0.5–5 years	Mentioned	Ear acupressure + acupuncture	Acupuncture	4 weeks	Effective rate, symptom score
Yuan et al., 2016 [40]	120 (60/60)	27 : 33/28 : 32	21–67/19–69	2–11 years	Mentioned	Ear acupressure + acupuncture	Acupuncture	30 days	Effective rate
Lu et al., 2015 [39]	60 (30/30)	19 : 11/21 : 9	10–70	Not given	Mentioned	Ear acupressure + electroacupuncture	Electroacupuncture	1 week	Effective rate, RQLQ
Zhao, 2019 [43]	58 (29/29)	18 : 11/13 : 16	18–65	4.48 ± 1.9/4.24 ± 2.08	Mentioned	Chinese medicine formula + ear acupressure	Chinese medicine formula (Shetizhiqiu decoction)	4 weeks	Effective rate, symptom score
Liao, 2016 [41]	58 (30/28)	11 : 19/12 : 16	18–60	2.7 ± 2.26/1.86 ± 1.04	Mentioned	Chinese medicine formula + ear acupressure	Chinese medicine formula (Xinqin granule)	20 days	Effective rate
Li, 2017 [46]	120 (60/60)	62 : 58	15–74	1–18 years	Mentioned	Ear acupressure + microwave therapy under nasal endoscope	Microwave therapy under nasal endoscope	30 days	Effective rate