Available online 24 October 2023

Author links open overlay panel, , , , , ABSTRACT

In recent years, the importance of real-world research based on real-world data has been widely recognized in many countries and regions around the world. Oriented by real-world data, real-world research is conducted to obtain real-world evidence, which becomes a hot spot in clinical study. In such circumstances, how to use the diagnosis and treatment data of clinical practice to evaluate the effect and safety of acupuncture becomes future direction of acupuncture research. This paper analyzed the current situation of the real-world research in the field of acupuncture and put forward the influencing factors and the countermeasures to provide the references for the real-world research of acupuncture.

Section snippetsAnalysis on the current status of acupuncture RWR all around the world

The literature of RWD and RWE was searched from PubMed, MEDLINE and Embase database, from 2018 till 13th April 2023. The keywords were “acupuncture”, “real world evidence”, “real-world data”, “real-world research”, “cohort study”, “case series” and “case report”. There were 363 articles related to the real-word observational study of acupuncture identified. It is argued that RWR is not equivalent to observational research, and it is difficult to distinguish pragmatic randomized controlled trial

Is there no significance or is it not worthy conducting such researches?

Acupuncture belongs to the traditional empirical medicine. In China, acupuncture doctors believe that the enduring application of acupuncture through thousands of years comes from its few side effects, widespread practice and significant therapeutic effect. However, a lack of strong evidence of clinical effect is the biggest challenge, hindering the world-wide recognition of acupuncture. Therefore, how to prove the efficacy and safety of acupuncture is a major concern in Chinese acupuncture

Strengthening the ecological infrastructure of RWD to obtain high-quality and highly applicable RWD

RWD is the basis of RWR. The problem of “information silo” should be solved primarily among different hospitals and institutions, the rules and paths be formulated for data sharing of clinical research and the data exchange standard be optimized. Actively promoting data sharing and transparency is the premise of driving RWR [22]. In addition, the relevant legal support and medical ethics are also important for the success of data sharing. Therefore, acupuncture associations should first

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

References (27)YM. LiPuzzles and hypotheses of acupuncture

Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine

(2013)

H Wei et al.Clinical acupuncture medicine from experience to evidence: exploration on the methodology in modern acupuncture research (Part 2)

Guiding Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy

(2021)

H Wei et al.Clinical acupuncture medicine from experience to evidence: exploration on the methodology in modern acupuncture research (Part 3)

Guiding Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy

(2021)

View full text

© 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of World Journal of Acupuncture Moxibustion House.