The aim of this meta-analysis was not to estimate the effects of acupuncture, but to synthesize the primary outcomes so that the summarised effects of studies from disclosure and no disclosure groups can be compared. For this analysis, following strategies were used to choose the outcome: (1) whether it is continuous outcome or dichotomous outcome, it should have data that are needed to calculate standardized mean difference (SMD) and standard deviation (SD); (2) the timing should be either indicated primary end-point or as close as possible to the last treatment session; (3) in the absence of predefined single main outcome measure, commonly used outcome in similar studies (e.g. visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain studies) was chosen or; (4) an outcome that reports clear data (e.g. if one outcome is reported in a table with specific values whereas another outcome is reported in a figure without any accurate values, the former) was chosen; (5) if a trial had more than one placebo group, the data were pooled separately as they were in content analysis, and number of participants in the shared intervention group was divided evenly . For calculating SMD and SD from dichotomous outcomes, we used a formula, \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$ \mathrm{SMD}=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{\pi}\ln OR $$\end{document}SMD=3πlnOR(OR, odds ratio) . A random-effects model with the generic inverse variance method was adopted to estimate SMD and 95% CI using Review Manager (The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Version 5.3.4, Copenhagen, Denmark). The I2 test was used to examine heterogeneity across the studies, and different PIL categories were subject to the subgroup analysis to investigate whether the estimates in the primary outcome varied between subgroups (FD or DD). In this meta-analysis using a Review Manager software, this test was undertaken using Cochran’s Q test and Higgins’ I2 by comparing the subtotal estimates between the subgroups. In addition, a post hoc analysis grouped studies by its originating region (Asia and Non-Asia) in each PIL category and tested in the same manner above whether the estimates in the outcome of interest varied in different regions.