Acupuncture could be effective and safe for post-stroke cognitive impairment.
A total of 28 trials with 2144 participants were included in the qualitative synthesis and meta-analysis. Results indicated that acupuncture groups may be benefiting more than non-acupuncture groups with respect to variation of MoCA scores, and the heterogeneity decreased in both subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis. In addition, acupuncture groups might be benefiting more than non-acupuncture groups in terms of changes in MMSE score, and the heterogeneity decreased in subgroup analysis. Only one RCT addressed adverse events, and the symptoms were mild and did not affect treatment and evaluation.
Acupuncture could be effective and safe for PSCI. Nevertheless, the results should be interpreted cautiously due to the high ROB of included trials and very low quality of evidence for assessed outcomes.
