A Systematic Review Of Acupuncture To Improve Cognitive Function Of Patients With Vascular Dementia

Objective:To evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture to improve the cognitive function of patients with vascular dementia. To provide clinical evidence for clinical application of acupuncture in the treatment of vascular dementia and related cognitive impairment.Methods:A rigorous retrieval strategy was formulated. We searched databases in Chinese and English from January 1992 to December 2015 for the Clinical randomized controlled trials about vascular dementia by treating with acupuncture. In accordance with the standards, screening and retrieval of study, extract the relevant information from each study. Use the evaluation tool recommended by Cochrane library, the risk of bias table, to evaluate the bias of literature reports.Revman 5.3 software was used for Meta-analysis of the effectiveness of acupuncture on improving the cognitive function of patients with vascular dementia.Results:Through comprehensively searching and screening,the final evaluation included 23 randomized controlled clinical trials.To literatures methods for quality evaluation,15 studies were evaluated as grade B,8 evaluated as grade C. All the quality of studies included were not high. The analysis showed that acupuncture reflected the advantages on MMSE score, HDS score, P300 values, and the biochemical index. In comparison with donepezil, there was no difference in efficiency. Acupuncture combined with western medicine treatment reflected advantages in terms of efficiency, the scores of MMSE, HDS, P300 value and some the biochemical index.Conclusion:1. Compared with western medicine, acupuncture treatment has advantages in improving the efficacy of cognitive function in the detection index. The quality of evidence is not high, but the results are stable.2. The results of the present study showed that acupuncture could improve the same cognitive function efficacy as donepezil in clinical trials. The results are stable.3. Compared with simple western medicine treatment, acupuncture combined with western medicine has more advantages on cognitive function. The quality of the evidence is not high,but the results are stable.4. There was no adverse reactions in acupuncture treatment. Although acupuncture could improve the curative effect of cognitive function in patients with vascular dementia in most outcome measures,but the quality of evidence is not high. May there be more high-quality clinical trials changing the results in the future.