Evidence mapping the role of acupuncture in diabetes-related obesity: A systematic review and quality assessment

Background: Acupuncture and moxibustion have played a greater role in the treatment of diabetes-related obesity. We used evidence map to analyze the current status of clinical research on acupuncture intervention for diabetes-related obesity and reveal the characteristics of evidence distribution and research problems in this field. Methods: We searched seven databases from the establishment of the library to December 2024. The clinical literature, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs, on acupuncture for the treatment of diabetes-related obesity was included, and the basic information and characteristics of the clinical research were extracted. A descriptive analysis was made of the frequency of the information included, while the quality of the articles was evaluated. Results: 104 papers were included, 100 in Chinese and 4 in English. The overall trend of the number of publications was upward, reaching a peak in 2014. The patients were predominantly type 2 diabetes mellitus combined with overweight or obesity. The most commonly used intervention was manual acupuncture, and the high-frequency acupoints included Zhongwan (RN12) (n = 69), Tianshu (ST25) (n = 54), Zusanli (ST36) (n = 64). Outcome indicators focused on fasting blood glucose (FBG) (n = 86), Body Mass Index (BMI) (n = 71), Triglycerides (TG) (n = 58). The methodology of the included literature and the overall results of the report evaluation are low due to the lack of blinding and the incomplete content of the detailed report. Conclusions: Acupuncture may demonstrate potential in the treatment of diabetes-related obesity; however, the existing clinical evidence is mainly from China and is limited by low methodological and reporting quality. There is an urgent need to conduct more high-quality, large-sample randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the future and to strictly follow the clinical trial reporting norms in order to provide more reliable basis for evidence-based medicine. © The Author(s) 2025.