Health Sciences

University | A to Z | Departments

• 
• Health Sciences
• Research
• Health Services and Policy
• Our research
• CMEG Projects
• Acupuncture and other physical treatments for osteoarthritis: network meta-analy

• Department home
• News and events
• Undergraduate study (Nursing and Midwifery)
• Nursing Associate (Foundation Degree) (apprenticeship)
• Apprenticeships
• Specialist Skills & Post Reg Development (CPD)
• Postgraduate study
• PhD/MPhil
• Research
  • Research Overview
  • Cardiac Care and Education
  • Epidemiology and Cancer Statistics
  • Health Services and Policy
    • News
    • Our staff
    • Our research
  • Mental Health and Addiction
  • Public Health and Society
  • Trials and Statistics
  • Nursing and midwifery research
• Our staff
• Practice Support for Supervisors, Assessors and Students
• Living and studying in York
• Information for current students
• Information for staff
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• Patient and public involvement
• Service User & Carer Involvement (SUCI)
• Alumni
• PCMIS
• Current vacancies
• Contact us

Acupuncture and other physical treatments for osteoarthritis: network meta-analysis (OAK Project)

The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of acupuncture with other physical treatments for alleviating pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee.

Led by researchers based at the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, we have carried out a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, comparing physical treatments with each other, with standard care, placebo, or no treatment.

Of the 156 eligible studies, 114 trials covering 22 treatments and 9,709 patients provided data suitable for analysis. The results show that acupuncture is associated with the most high-quality trials and outperforms sham acupuncture as well as most other physical therapies.