Acupuncture modification treatment for female sexual dysfunction: A meta-analysis

Abstract

BackgroundAcupuncture has potential in the treatment of female sexual dysfunction (FSD), but its effectiveness needs to be verified. AimA meta-analysis to provide a summary of studies that had investigated the efficacy of acupuncture as a treatment for FSD. MethodsA systematic screening was conducted on electronic databases such as Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, and CBM to select studies that met the criteria before April 2023. We only included those studies assessing women’s sexual functioning by the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). OutcomesBy calculating the relative risk (RR) using the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI), these data were combined to generate a summary of the findings. The pooled results were calculated using a random-effects model. ResultsA total of 4 studies involving 178 participants were included, and the comprehensive results indicated a significant difference in FSFI scores between the acupuncture group and the control group. In the desire and arousal scale, there was a statistically significant difference between the acupuncture group and the control group. But in the scale of lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. ConclusionA comparison of overall FSFI scores, sexual desire, and sexual arousal revealed that acupuncture treatment can improve female sexual dysfunction to some extent. However, in terms of vaginal lubrication, orgasm, sexual satisfaction, and sexual pain, acupuncture treatment did not significantly improve female sexual dysfunction. In the future, it is necessary to include more RCT trials and expand the number of patients analyzed to make the conclusions more reliable.