Acupuncture research does not have a good name; if it originates from China, even less so.
And this note in ‘ACUPUNCTURE IN MEDICINE’ is not likely to change this image:
Fang J, Keller CL, Chen L, et al. Effect of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine on subacute stroke outcomes: a single-centre randomised controlled trial. Acupuncture in Medicine Published online first 10 November 2017. doi: 10.1136/acupmed-2016-011167.
This article is retracted by the Editor-in-Chief on grounds of redundant publication.
The above article reports that a trial originally planned to be carried out at three hospitals was reduced to a single centre for reasons of cost. This is incorrect. The full three-centre trial was run and reported elsewhere (Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 25850 (2016) DOI: 10.1038/srep25850).
The Scientific Reports paper was accepted for publication prior to submission of the above paper to Acupuncture in Medicine. The third author takes responsibility for the mistake. All authors have agreed to this retraction.
The abstract of the paper in SCIENTIFIC REPORTS is here:
To determine whether integrative medicine rehabilitation (IMR) that combines conventional rehabilitation (CR) with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine has better effects for subacute stroke than CR alone, we conducted a multicenter randomized controlled trial that involved three hospitals in China. Three hundred sixty patients with subacute stroke were randomized into IMR and CR groups. The primary outcome was the Modified Barthel Index (MBI). The secondary outcomes were the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Hamilton’s Depression Scale (HAMD), and the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). All variables were evaluated at week 0 (baseline), week 4 (half-way of intervention), week 8 (after treatment) and week 20 (follow-up). In comparison with the CR group, the IMR group had significantly better improvements (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) in all the primary and secondary outcomes. There were also significantly better changes from baseline in theses outcomes in the IMR group than in the CR group (P < 0.01). A low incidence of adverse events with mild symptoms was observed in the IMR group. We conclude that conventional rehabilitation combined with integrative medicine is safe and more effective for subacute stroke rehabilitation.
I find all this odd in several ways:
- The publication of the ACUPUNCTURE IN MEDICINE article does not seem to have been a ‘mistake‘ but plain scientific fraud, in my view.
- The paper in SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (SR) was published in May 2016. Therefore the reviewers and editor of AIM could and should have spotted the fraud.
- In the SR paper, the authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. As the authors were affiliated to three different departments of acupuncture, I feel this to be debatable.
What do you think?
2 Responses to Fraudulent acupuncture research?
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The question of ‘conflicts of interest’ arises quite often when publications are discussed on this blog. Personally, I don’t regard authors belonging to Departments of Acupuncture as a possible conflict of interest: surely it’s just a natural affiliation?
Is it not to be expected that, for example, members of a Dept. of Surgery will undertake research in surgery, or that people belonging to a Dept. of Gynaecology will author papers on gynaecological research? To suggest a ‘conflict of interest’ is a polite way of suggesting possible financial corruption. Is it not more reasonable to restrict the term to instances where authors fail to mention sponsorship of their research from a commercial purveyor of Big Snakeoil?
As the authors were affiliated to three different departments of acupuncture, I feel this to be debatable.
Definitely. There is no prima facie reason to expect a problem with the research but the authors have a duty to point out this out. A simple rewording of the statement, perhaps regarding funding might point out the situation.