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Does acupuncture improve sexual dysfunction? A systematic review

  • Fatemeh Abdi ORCID logo , Zainab Alimoradi ORCID logo , Nasibeh Roozbeh ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Marjan Akhavan Amjadi ORCID logo and Mehri Robatjazi ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: October 1, 2021
Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine
From the journal Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine Volume 20 Issue 1

Abstract

Objectives

Sexual dysfunction can adversely affect the quality of life and interpersonal relationships. nowadays, a lot of attention is paid to traditional Chinese medicine with better curative effects and less adverse events. Recent studies have implied the promising effect of acupuncture on sexual function. This systematic review evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in treating female and male sexual dysfunction.

Content

PubMed, Cochrane Central of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), EMBASE, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched up to 2021. No limitation to language and date. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT).

Summary

Among 160 initially assessed papers, 13 articles were included. The findings showed that acupuncture improve sexual dysfunction in domains of desire, libido, erectile dysfunction and impotency. Most studies did not report any serious side effects from acupuncture, and only three studies reported minor adverse events.

Outlook

The available evidence indicate that acupuncture has positive on improvement of sexual dysfunction with no serious side effects. Although acupuncture has gained increasing popularity for the management of sexual dysfunction, high methodological quality evidence regarding its efficacy is lacking.

Highlights

  • – No systematic review research has yet been carried out the effect of acupressure on sexual dysfunction men and women together. Hence, this systematic review aimed to evaluate the effect of acupressure on female and male sexual dysfunction

  • – No limitation to language and date this systematic review

  • – The all of acupressure types included in this systematic review

  • – The side effects of acupressure evaluated.

  • – Due to the negative effects of sexual disorders on people’s lives leading to discontent, people are increasingly approaching clinics therefor the acupressure pointes and treatment design report in this systematic review can help with health provider to improve sexual function among men and women.

Keywords: acupuncture; TCM; sexual dysfunction
Corresponding author: Nasibeh Roozbeh, Assistant Professor, Mother and Child Welfare Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Science, Bander Abbas, Iran, Phone: +07633337192, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

We appreciate the reviewers’ comments.

  1. Research funding: This article did not take any funding support.

  2. Competing interests: Authors have no conflict of interests.

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Supplementary Material

The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/jcim-2021-0194).

Received: 2021-05-14
Accepted: 2021-09-13
Published Online: 2021-10-01

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/jcim-2021-0194
Keywords for this article
acupuncture; TCM; sexual dysfunction

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Reviews
  3. Does acupuncture improve sexual dysfunction? A systematic review
  4. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease – discussed under the light of Unani medicine
  5. Phytochemistry and pharmacology of Celastrus paniculatus Wild.: a nootropic drug
  6. Low back pain patients’ perceived effectiveness of utilizing complementary and alternative medicine: a systematic review of qualitative studies
  7. Efficacy and tolerability of Lavandula angustifolia in treating patients with the diagnosis of depression: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials
  8. Research Articles
  9. Psychobiotic interventions attenuate chronic alcohol use-mediated exacerbation of posttraumatic stress disorder in rats: the role of gut-liver axis response
  10. Evaluation of the toxicity of crude aqueous Pleurotus tuber-regium (Fr.) Singer extract in mice
  11. Effects of crude methanol extract of Adansonia digitata fruit pulp on Naja nigricollis venom-induce toxicity in Wistar rats
  12. Integrative medicine approaches to chronic depression: case studies of the recovery process with a three-step path to recovery and significant cure
  13. Antimicrobial, anti-adhesion, anti-biofilm properties of goji berry (Lycium barbarum) against periodontal bacteria: potential benefits for periodontal diseases
  14. Method development and validation for quantification of six bioactive compounds (andrographolide, columbin, piperine, gallic, paracoumaric and oleanolic acids) by HPTLC
  15. Gallic acid a flavonoid isolated from Euphorbia hirta antagonizes gamma radiation induced radiotoxicity in lymphocytes in vitro
  16. Naturopathic knowledge and approaches to managing endometriosis: a cross-sectional survey of naturopaths with experience in endometriosis care
  17. Halimeda gracilis (Kadarpassi chooranam) Phytochemical analysis and biological significance – a novel Siddha drug
  18. Trends in the St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) research literature: a bibliometric analysis
  19. Use and perception of complementary and alternative medicine among Iranian psychologists
  20. Innovative histological and histochemical characterization of tongue biopsies from patients with burning mouth syndrome
  21. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial to evaluate the effect of EstroSense® on 2-hydroxyestrone:16α-hydroxyestrone ratio in premenopausal women
  22. Comparing the influence of foot reflexology and fasting mimicking diet on quality of life and sleep quality in obesity hypoventilation syndrome
  23. The effects of Cynodon dactylon (Poaceae family) and Dolichos biflorus (Fabaceae family) extracts on decreasing size and excretion of kidney and urinary tract stones: a randomized, double-blind controlled trial
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