{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,30]],"date-time":"2026-10-30T09:32:54Z","timestamp":1793352774180,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,26]],"date-time":"2023-10-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1698278400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Neurol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Cupping therapy is an ancient technique of healing used to treat a variety of ailments. An evidence-mapping study was conducted to summarize the existing evidence of cupping therapy for pain-related outcomes and indicate the effect and the quality of evidence to provide a comprehensive view of what is known.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science were searched to collect the meta-analyses investigating the association between cupping therapy and pain-related outcomes. The methodological quality was assessed by using the AMSTAR 2 tool. Significant outcomes (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.05) were assessed using the GRADE system. The summary of evidence is presented by bubble plots and human evidence mapping.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Fourteen meta-analyses covering five distinct pain-related conditions were identified and assessed for methodological quality using the AMSTAR 2, which categorized the quality as critically low (36%), low (50.0%), moderate (7%), and high (7%). In accordance with the GRADE system, no high-quality evidence was found that demonstrates the efficacy of cupping therapy for pain-related outcomes. Specifically, for neck pain, there were two moderate-quality, four low-quality, and two very low-quality evidence, while only one very low-quality evidence supports its efficacy in treating herpes zoster and one low-quality evidence for chronic back pain. Additionally, for low back pain, there were two moderate-quality, one low-quality, and four very low-quality evidence, and for knee osteoarthritis, three moderate-quality evidence suggest that cupping therapy may alleviate pain score.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The available evidence of very low-to-moderate quality suggests that cupping therapy is effective in managing chronic pain, knee osteoarthritis, low back pain, neck pain, chronic back pain, and herpes zoster. Moreover, it represents a promising, safe, and effective non-pharmacological therapy that warrants wider application and promotion.<\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:bold>Systematic review registration<\/jats:bold>\n                      :\n                      <jats:ext-link>https:\/\/www.crd.york.ac.uk\/prospero\/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021255879<\/jats:ext-link>\n                      , identifier: CRD42021255879.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fneur.2023.1266712","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,26]],"date-time":"2023-10-26T20:24:26Z","timestamp":1698351866000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["Efficacy of cupping therapy on pain outcomes: an evidence-mapping study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Liaoyao","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ziling","family":"Cai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xuanlin","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aisong","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1976","DOI":"10.1097\/j.pain.0000000000001939","article-title":"The revised international association for the study of pain definition of pain: concepts, challenges, and 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