Meta-analysis of the Effectiveness of Acupuncture Treatment in Shoulder Pain

In this meta analysis, it was aimed to evaluate effectiveness of acupuncture treatment in shoulder pain. Nine articles with 10 samples were chosen for the study out of the 668 acupuncture research studies that were evaluated on scholarly databases (15–23). The ages, female to male ratios, and initial and final Visual Analog Scale (VAS) pain levels of research participants were recorded. A total of 365 shoulder pain patients including 238 (65.20%) females and 127 (34.80%) males were subjected to acupuncture treatment. VAS difference mean was -2.66 with 0.87-4.80 range. Age means of shoulder pain patients ranged from 30.8 to 56.81 with 47.66 mean. In all study samples, VAS differences between control group and acupuncture group were significant (p<0.05). Spearman’s rho correlation analysis results showed that only female frequency was significantly correlated with VAS difference (r=-0.760; p<0.05). Correlation between male frequency and age were insignificant (p>0.05). Generalized Linear model (Logit) results showed that effects of gender frequency and age were statistically insignificant (p>0.05). Acupuncture treatment is effective in shoulder pain for individuals of all ages and genders, but this level of effectiveness is higher in men. However, more samples, clinical studies and meaningful regression analysis results are needed to make this generalization.