Traditional, complementary and integrative medicine therapies for the treatment of mild/moderate acute COVID-19: protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis
Long Ge,
Lehana Thabane,
Yuqing Zhang,
Gordon Guyatt,
Jason W Busse,
Behnam Sadeghirad,
Sunita Vohra,
Qiukui Hao,
Thomas Agoritsas,
Derek Chu,
Claudia M Witt,
Anqi Li,
Sarika Chaturvedi,
Myeong Soo Lee,
Jun Ren,
Angela Cheung,
Kavita U Kothari,
Benno Brinkhaus,
Qingyong He,
Patrick M Okwen,
Lin Ang,
Min Fang,
Lingjun Kong,
Yachan Li,
Geetha Krishnan,
Lisa Susan Wieland,
Bhushan Patwardhan,
Bernice Downey,
Jialing Zhu
Affiliations
Long Ge
Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
Lehana Thabane
Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, Mcmaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Yuqing Zhang
Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, Mcmaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Gordon Guyatt
Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, Mcmaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Jason W Busse
Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, Mcmaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Behnam Sadeghirad
Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, Mcmaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Sunita Vohra
Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Qiukui Hao
School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Thomas Agoritsas
Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, Hamilton, Stockholm, ON, Sweden
Derek Chu
Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Claudia M Witt
Institute for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
Anqi Li
Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
Sarika Chaturvedi
Dr D Y Patil Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Dr D Y Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune, India
Myeong Soo Lee
Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Dajeon, Korea (the Republic of)
Jun Ren
Department of Tuina, Shuguang Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
Angela Cheung
Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Kavita U Kothari
Consultant to Library & Digital Information Networks, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Benno Brinkhaus
Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Qingyong He
Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
Background Increasing evidence has emerged for traditional, complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM) to treat COVID-19 which requires systematic summaries of the net benefits of interventions against standard care and one another. The study aims to conduct a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) regarding TCIM therapies for treating mild/moderate acute COVID-19, potentially informing the WHO guideline development and clinical decision-making.Methods and analysis We will search Embase, MEDLINE, Virtual Health Library on Traditional Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, WHO’s International Clinical Trials Registry Platform with additional searches of Chinese and Korean literature sources for randomised controlled trials comparing TCIM with placebo, standard care, no treatment or with an alternate type of TCIM to treat COVID-19. We will limit the search dates from 2020 to 28 March 2024. Reviewers will, in duplicate, screen eligible articles, extract data and evaluate the risk of bias. We will conduct frequentist network meta-analyses for network comparisons and each outcome. We will assess the certainty of evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach and classify interventions from most to least effective or harmful.Ethics and dissemination This NMA is based on the existing trials and data which is not subject to ethical approval. We will publish the NMA in a peer-reviewed journal. This may provide methodological reference and clinical evidence for TCIM on future epidemic-prone diseases.PROSPERO registration number CRD42024517321.
