Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields May Be Effective for the Management of Primary Osteoporosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Little is known about the effect of pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) as an option for preventing osteoporosis. This study sought to investigate the effectiveness of PEMFs for the management of primary osteoporosis in older adults. We searched databases from the inception to date to target trial...

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Published inIEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering Vol. 30; pp. 321 - 328
Main Authors Zhu, Siyi, Li, Yi, Wang, Liqiong, Huang, Jinming, Song, Kangping, Gan, Xinling, Xiang, Xiaona, He, Chengqi, Yang, Lin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States IEEE 2022
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
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Summary:Little is known about the effect of pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) as an option for preventing osteoporosis. This study sought to investigate the effectiveness of PEMFs for the management of primary osteoporosis in older adults. We searched databases from the inception to date to target trials examining the effects of PEMFs compared to placebo or sham or other agents for the management of primary osteoporosis for a meta-analysis using random effects model. Eight trials including 411 participants were included. PEMFs was non-inferior to conventional pharmacological agents and exercise respectively in preventing the decline of Bone Mineral Density (BMD) at the lumbar (MD 8.76; CI −9.64 to 27.16 and MD 1.33; CI −2.73 to 5.39) and femur neck (MD 0.04; CI −1.09 to 1.16 and MD 1.50; CI −0.26 to 3.26), and significantly improving balance function measured by Berg Balance Scale (BBS) (MD 0.91; CI 0.32 to 1.49) and Timed Up and Go test (MD −3.61; CI −6.37 to −0.85), directly after intervention. The similar trends were observed in BMD and BBS at 12- and 24-weeks follow-up from baseline. PEMFs had positive effects non-inferior to first-line treatment on BMD and better over placebo on balance function in older adults with primary osteoporosis, but with moderate to very low certainty evidence and short-term follow-ups. There is a need for high-quality randomised controlled trials evaluating PEMFs for the management of primary osteoporosis.
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ISSN:1534-4320
1558-0210
DOI:10.1109/TNSRE.2022.3149483