title: Acupuncture for vascular mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vascular mild cognitive impairment (VMCI) is the most common type of vascular cognitive impairment induced by cerebrovascular disease. No effective medicines are currently available for VMCI.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for VMCI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven electronic databases were searched for randomised controlled trials which investigated the effects of acupuncture compared with no treatment, placebo or conventional therapies on cognitive function or other clinical outcomes in patients with VMCI. The quality of the trials selected was evaluated according to the 'risk of bias' assessment provided by the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. RevMan V.5.1 software was employed for data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve trials with 691 participants were included. The methodological quality of all included trials was unclear and/or they had a high risk of bias. Meta-analysis showed acupuncture in conjunction with other therapies could significantly improve Mini-Mental State Examination scores (mean difference 1.99, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.88, random model, p<0.0001, 6 trials). No included trials mentioned any adverse events of the treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current clinical evidence is not of sufficient quality for wider application of acupuncture to be recommended for the treatment of VMCI, and further large, rigorously designed trials are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, , Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Huijuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Yuyi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
keywords: Acupuncture; Systematic Reviews