259: Role of acupuncture for people affected by humanitarian crisis: a scoping review

Topic: Clinical Science
Subtopic: Non-specific to any diagnosis, Non-pharmacological treatments, Physiotherapy (e.g. exercise, rehab), Pain in Special Populations

Background and Aims: Humanitarian crises devastatingly impact on health and increase burden of care in the affected population. Acupuncture is widely used for chronic pain, functional disorders and mental health conditions. Cumulative evidence supports such use with varying certainty, although they have been mainly generated in non-conflict settings. To address this gap, we aimed to identify the types of evidence available in acupuncture for care of people under humanitarian crises.

Methods: The scoping review will be conducted based on the framework proposed by Arksey and O'Mally. Core databases including Medline (Pubmed), Embase, the Cochrane library (CENTRAL), China Academic Journals (CAJ) as well as grey literatures will be searched from the inception to December 31st 2025. Search terms will include the core concept of 'acupuncture' and 'humanitarian crisis' and will be revised accordingly to fully capture the relevant literatures in each database. Both controlled and uncontrolled observations will be eligible. Study characteristics including population, intervention, comparators, and outcomes as well as other important aspects of included studies will be summarised descriptively.

Results: The systematic search and selection results will be illustrated. Findings will be tabulated and qualitatively synthesized. Types of evidence will be presented and implications of findings on the care for humanitarian crises will be discussed. We will report the results based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). At the initial scoping search, we located 7 potentially relevant publications including literature review, case report, retrospective audit and cross-sectional survey.

Conclusions: This review will provide an overview of the evidence of acupuncture for caring people under humanitarian crises. Gap of evidence of acupuncture for caring people affected by humanitarian crises will be addressed to inform clinical practice and future studies. The full findings will be presented at the conference.

References: 1. Arksey H, O’Malley L. Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Methodol 2005;8:19-32.
2. Budd S. Supporting Communities in Humanitarian Crises with Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine A Perspective. Med Acupunct. 2023 Aug 1;35(4):159-162.
3. Tricco AC, Lillie E, Zarin W, O’Brien KK, Colquhoun H, Levac D, et al. PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR): checklist and explanation. Ann Intern Med 2018;169:467-473.
4. Vickers AJ, Cronin AM, Maschino AC, Lewith G, MacPherson H, Foster NE, et al. Acupuncture for chronic pain: individual patient data meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med 2012;172:1444-1453.
5. Higgins, J.P., Thomas, J., Chandler, J., Cumpston, M., Li, T., Page, M.J., Welch, V.A., 2019. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, 2nd edition. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester (UK).
6. Preliminary guidance for a package of high-priority health services for humanitarian response (H3 package). Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024.

Presenting Author: KUNHYUNG KIM
Submitting Author: KUN HYUNG KIM

Senior Author: KUNHYUNG KIM

IASP 2026 Global Year theme of Neuropathic Pain: No

• Yeyeong Jeong - School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Korea
• Suhyon Kim - School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Korea
• Yoona Oh - School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, South Korea
• Kang Ho Park - Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand
• Ngwe Yi Lwin - Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand
• Hyeri Jung - Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Medicine, Pusan National University Korean Medicine Hospital, Yangsan, Korea
• Minhwan Kim - Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Medicine, Pusan National University Korean Medicine Hospital, Yangsan, Korea