Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Acupressure on Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Table 1

Characteristics of the included studies.

Study	Sample size (T/C)	Age (years; SD) (T/C)	Intervention (T/C)	Frequency	Treatment duration	Follow-up interval		Outcome
Hsieh et al. 2004 [18]	69/77	47.6 ± 13.6/47.6 ± 14.9	A/PT	Unclear	1 month	6 months		②⑥⑧
Hsieh et al. 2006 [19]	64/65	50.2 ± 13.8/52.6 ± 17.2	A/PT	Unclear	1 month	6 months		③⑥
Zhang et al. 2017 [26]	30/30	18 to 55	A/PT	QD	1 month	NM		①⑤⑥
Wen 2015 [28]	64/59	52.72 ± 9.27/49.09 ± 14.31	A/TM	QW	5 weeks	NM		①⑥
Zheng et al. 2012 [33]	90/90	45.6/46.2	A/TM	QD 5 times/week	20 days	1 year		①⑤⑥
Lu et al. 2004 [38]	54/50	47.0 ± 10.41/45.0 ± 11.01	A/TM	QD	20 days	NM		①⑥
Wang 2010 [36]	44/40	43.5 ± 10.5/42.8 ± 9.7	A/TM	QD	10 days	NM		①
Liao et al. 2018 [23]	100/100	38.26 ± 7.65/38.37 ± 7.35	A/TM	QD	2 weeks	NM		①⑩
Zhang et al. 2018 [20]	42/42	43.63 ± 3.23/42.95 ± 3.54	A/TM	QD	1 month	NM		①⑪
Zhang 2010 [34]	131/130	43.36 ± 11.43/41.84 ± 11.62	A/TM	QD	20 days	NM		①⑥
Huo 2009 [37]	25/25	48.5/47.7	A + EA/EA	QOD	24 days	NM		①⑥
Liu and Guo 2014 [30]	30/30	44.15/46.23	A + EA/EA	QD 5 times/week	2 weeks	NM		①⑤
Hu 2015 [29]	40/40	40.2 ± 3.8/39.6 ± 3.5	A + EA/EA	QD	2 weeks	NM		①
Bei 2018 [25]	40/40	27.73 ± 3.51/28.16 ± 3.49	A + EA/EA	QD 5 times/week	2 weeks	NM		①⑥
Zhang and Zhao 2018 [21]	60/60	48.55 ± 10.28/48.58 ± 10.26	A + EA/EA	QD 6 times/week	3 weeks	NM		①⑤⑥
Hua et al. 2014 [31]	30/30	39.53 ± 9.66/41.93 ± 9.71	A + EA/EA	QOD	10 days	NM		⑥
Su 2013 [32]	30/39	52.87 ± 8.86/48.86 ± 11.24	A + EA/EA	QD 6 times/week	2 weeks		NM	①④⑧
Tan 2017 [27]	60/60	49.3 ± 8.5/50.1 ± 7.9	A + MA/MA	QD	20 days		NM	①④⑥
Hua and Wang 2018 [24]	30/30	43.6 ± 10.4/40.9 ± 9.7	A + MA/MA	QOD	10 days		NM	⑤⑥
Zeng and Pei 2018 [22]	45/45	38.05 ± 6.21/37.56 ± 5.68	A + MA/MA	QD 6 times/week	2 weeks		NM	①⑤⑥
Lin 2010 [35]	30/30	43.9 ± 9.922/44.6 ± 8.315	A + MA/MA	QOD	10 days		NM	①⑤
Kobayashi et al. 2019 [17]	27/24	67.4 ± 12.2/68.3 ± 15	A/UC	QW	1 month		1 month	③④⑥⑧
Chen 2015 [8]	65/64	18.75 ± 1.74/18.73 ± 0.63	A/UC	BID	1 week		4 months	④⑥

Note: (1). A: acupressure; PT: physical therapy; TM: tuina massage; EA: electro-acupuncture; MA: manual acupuncture; UC: usual care. (2). Outcome indicator: ① response rate; ② Short-Form Pain Questionnaires; ③ Roland and Morris Disability Questionnaire; ④ Oswestry Disability Index; ⑤ Japanese Orthopedic Association Score; ⑥ Visual Analogue Scale; ⑦ Fatigue Severity Scale; ⑧ Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire; TCM Syndrome Index; ⑨ straight leg raise; ⑩ functional independence measurement; (3). BID: twice a day; QD: once a day; QOD: once every other day; QW: once a week; NM: not mentioned.