The efficacy and safety of acupuncture and nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Tobacco hazard is one of the most serious public health problems, accounting for up to 6 million deaths worldwide p.a. We aim to determine the efficacy and safety of acupuncture and/or nicotine replacement therapy on smoking cessation. METHODS: We will recruit 96 participants who are willing to quit smoking by acupuncture and/or nicotine replacement therapy in Chengguan, Xigu and Heping Districts, Lanzhou city, for multicenter randomized, double-blind, double-dummy controlled clinical trial. Following obtained the informed consent forms, all eligible participants will be randomly divided into 4 groups: (1) acupuncture combined with nicotine patch, (2) acupuncture combined with sham nicotine patch, (3) sham acupuncture combined with nicotine patch, and (4) sham acupuncture combined with sham nicotine patch. These participants will be treated with different intervention modalities for 8 weeks and then will be followed-up for 8 weeks. The SPSS 26.0 software will be applied to analyze the clinical effects and adverse reactions of different intervention measures for smoking cessation. DISCUSSION: This trial is a prospective, pragmatic, randomized, multicenter trial study protocol. The outcomes will illustrate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture and/or nicotine patches for smoking cessation. Provide smokers with a superior smoking cessation program. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2100042912 . Registered on January 31, 2021.

Comparison between Acupuncture and Nicotine Replacement Therapies for Smoking Cessation Based on Randomized Controlled Trials: A Systematic Review and Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and/or safety of acupuncture therapy (AT) in quitting smoking. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, and Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM). We used Cochrane Collaborative Quality Assessment to assess the risk of bias. Bayesian network meta-analysis was utilized to evaluate the efficacy and safety of different interventions. Data analyses were conducted using WinBUGS 1.4.3, Stata 14, and RevMan 5.3.5 software. RESULTS: A total of 2706 patients from 23 studies were included, involving 6 treatment arms. Network meta-analysis demonstrated that there was no significant difference in short-term abstinence rates or changes in Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence (FTND) scores and daily smoking among these groups (AT, sham acupuncture therapy (SAT), auricular acupressure (AA), sham auricular acupressure (SAA), acupuncture plus auricular acupressure (APAA), and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)). However, there was a significant difference between SAA and AA with risk ratio (RR) of 2.49 (95% CI 1.14, 5.97) in long-term abstinence rate. The probabilistic ranking results showed that APAA and AA were superior to other interventions in the comparison of abstinence rates. There was no obvious inconsistency between the direct comparison and indirect comparison, using the consistency test. CONCLUSION: AA was superior to SAA in smoke quitting, but there was no difference among other interventions in long-term truncation rates. There was no difference in short-term abstinence rates among these selected groups. We need large sample RCTs to clarify the advantages of interventions such as APAA and AA. In addition, reporting of adverse events that may occur during treatment also should be enhanced to complement evidence-based medicine. The trial is registered with PROSPERO CRD42020164712.

Bibliometric Analysis on COVID-19: A Comparison of Research Between English and Chinese Studies.

Background: As an emerging infectious disease, COVID-19 has garnered great research interest. We aimed to explore the differences between English language and Chinese language Medical/Scientific journals publications, particularly aiming to explore the efficacy/contents of the literature published in English and Chinese in relation to the outcomes of management and characterization of COVID-19 during the early stage of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Publications on COVID-19 research were retrieved from both English and Chinese databases. Bibliometric analyses were performed using VOSviewer 1.6.14, and CiteSpace V software. Network maps were generated to evaluate the collaborations between different authors, countries/provinces, and institutions. Results: A total of 143 English and 721 Chinese original research articles and reviews on COVID-19 were included in our study. Most of the authors and institutions of the papers were from China before March 1st, 2020, however, the distribution of authors and institutions were mainly in developed countries or more wealthy areas of China. The range of the keywords in English publications was more extensive than those in Chinese. Traditional Chinese Medicine was seen more frequently in Chinese papers than in English. Of the 143 articles published in English, 54 articles were published by Chinese authors only and 21 articles were published jointly by Chinese and other overseas authors. Conclusions: The publications in English have enabled medical practitioners and scientists to share/exchange information, while on the other hand, the publications in the Chinese language have provided complementary educational approaches for the local medical practitioners to understand the essential and key information to manage COVID-19 in the relatively remote regions of China, for the general population with a general level of education.

Effect of acupuncture and auricular acupressure on smoking cessation: Protocol of a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco epidemic remains a major challenge to public health, with >7 million deaths attributable to tobacco smoking p.a. Quitting smoking is a proven way of reducing the harm of smoking. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), auricular acupressure and acupuncture are used for quit smoking, but it remains to be explored which is relatively more effective. Furthermore, a Bayesian network meta-analysis will be applied to determine the relative effects and/or safety of different smoking cessation treatments. METHODS/DESIGN: A literature search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) will be performed in five electronic databases from inception to December 2019, including PubMed, the Cochrane library, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Chinese Biomedical Database (SinoMed). Cochrane Collaboration quality assessment tool will be used for the risk of bias assessment. A Bayesian network meta-analysis will be performed using WinBUGS 1.4.3, and Stata 14 will be applied to draw the network diagram, while RevMan 5.3.5 will be used to produce funnel plot for assessing the risk of publication bias. Recommended rating, development and grade methodology will also be utilized to assess the quality of evidence. RESULTS: We will evaluate the effect of different smoking cessation treatments (e.g., acupuncture, auricular acupressure, and NRT) by directly traditional meta-analysis and indirectly Bayesian network meta-analysis. CONCLUSION: Our study will provide smokers with the available evidence on the efficacy and safety of quitting regimens.