STUDY PROTOCOL article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Mood Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1624825
Comparative efficacy and safety of Acupuncture for Adolescent Depression: protocol for a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Guangzhou Health Science College, Guangzhou, China
- 2Guangzhou Huangpu District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
- 3The Affiliated TCM Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- 4Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
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Background: Adolescents are in a critical stage of development and represent a highrisk population for depression. Various studies have demonstrated the efficacy of acupuncture therapies in the treatment of adolescent depression. However, trials directly comparing the efficacy and safety of different acupuncture therapies for adolescent depression are still lacking. To identify the optimal acupuncture therapy for treating adolescent depression, we will conduct a systematic review and network metaanalysis of various acupuncture therapies for adolescent depression.Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in adolescent depression will be systematically searched across the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases from inception to December 2025. Study quality will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool (RoB 2.0), while the Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis (CINeMA) framework will evaluate evidence certainty. The primary outcomes will be included at least one validated depression rating scale for adolescent. Secondary endpoints include safety outcomes, measured by the incidence of adverse events during the study period.Bayesian network meta-analysis will be performed using the gemtc package (v0.8-7) in R statistical software (version 4.0.5).Discussion: This study will clarify the comparative efficacy and safety of acupuncture for adolescent depression, guiding clinical decision-making.
Keywords: adolescent depression, Acupuncture, Network meta-analysis, protocol, Systematic review
Received: 12 May 2025; Accepted: 27 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Wang, Xiang, Zhang, Zhang, Zhang and Wen. 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: Hao Wen, Guangzhou Huangpu District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
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