Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture Rehabilitation for Post-stroke Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objective: The most important and common psychiatric disorders after stroke include post-stroke depression, which can lead to a variety of negative health outcomes. This study was calculated to estimate the security and effectiveness of acupuncture rehabilitation in curative effects for post-stroke depression patients. Methods: As of July 2022, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched through electronic databases. Eligibility criteria RCTs evaluate RCTs of acupuncture rehabilitation on treatment events in depressed patients after stroke, compared to a control group. Results: Eight studies were included (n = 16,422). When combined with antidepressant/sham acupuncture efficacy, acupuncture intervention observably reduced HAMD scores (MD= -0.55,95% CI= -1.57 to -0.48, P=0.30, I²= 0%). Meanwhile, acupuncture rehabilitation also reduced BI scores (MD= 1.87,95%CI= -3.77-7.51, P=0.51, I²= 0%) and CGI-S score (MD=0.43,95% CI = 0.06-0.77, P =0.01, I² = 0%) compared with antidepressants / sham acupuncture. Second, the occurrence rate of combined negative events was dramatically lesser in the acupuncture groups, as indicated by the SERS scores (MD= -4.85,95% CI= 5.67 to -4.04, P <0.00001, I² = 0%) of the acupuncture groups and the antidepressant/sham acupuncture groups. Furthermore, the overall clinical outcome was observably better in the acupuncture groups (MD=1.58,95% CI =0.813.09, P =0.18, I² = 0%). Conclusion: Acupuncture rehabilitation intervention for post-stroke depression is safer and more effective than antidepressant/sham acupuncture.