SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Parkinson’s Disease and Aging-related Movement Disorders
Volume 17 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1663059
Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture for Parkinson's disease anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shanghai Eighth People Hospital, Shanghai, China
- 2Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) commonly experience anxiety, with a prevalence of 31%. This study systematically evaluates the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for anxiety related to PD. Method: Nine databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published from inception to August 24, 2025. RCTs comparing acupuncture and moxibustion treatments (with or without other therapies, e.g., western medicine, routine care, sham acupuncture) to other therapies alone for managing PD anxiety were included. Data were analyzed using the R software (version 4.5.1). In accordance with PRISMA-2020 guidelines, two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane risk of bias tool (ROB 2.0). The certainty of the evidence was graded using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) according to GRADE handbook. Results: A total of 10 studies were included, comprising 1000 patients with anxiety after PD. The meta-analysis indicated that, compared to the control group, the acupuncture group showed significant improvements in HAMA and SAS scores (SMD = -3.64, 95% CI [-5.06 to -2.23]; SMD = -7.76, 95% CI [-10.10 to -5.41]), as well as significant improvements in HAMD and SDS scores (SMD = -2.93, 95% CI [-4.25 to -1.60]; SMD = -8.35, 95% CI [-8.88 to -7.82]). The reported adverse events related to acupuncture were minimal and less severe. This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article Conclusions: Acupuncture can successfully reduce anxiety symptoms in PD patients. Additional higher quality randomized controlled trials are required to ascertain the safety and effectiveness of acupuncture as a therapy for anxiety in PD patients. Systematic review registration: CRD42024601125
Keywords: Acupuncture, Parkinson's disease, Anxiety, Meta-analysis, Systematic review
Received: 10 Jul 2025; Accepted: 25 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Xu, Wang, Li, Wu, Huang, Wu and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jianhua Zhou, shprozhou@163.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.