Effects of Gua Sha therapy on perimenopausal syndrome : A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved..

OBJECTIVE: In East Asia, Gua Sha therapy is widely used in patients with perimenopausal syndrome. The goal of this systematic review was to evaluate the available evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Gua Sha therapy for the treatment of patients with perimenopausal syndrome.

METHODS: Databases searched from inception until June 2017 included: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and four Chinese databases [WanFang Med Database, Chinese BioMedical Database, Chinese WeiPu Database, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)]. Only the RCTs related to the effects of Gua Sha therapy on perimenopausal syndrome were included in this systematic review. A quantitative analysis of RCTs was employed using RevMan 5.3 software. Study selection, data extraction, and validation were performed by two independent reviewers. Cochrane criteria for risk-of-bias were used to evaluate the methodological quality of the trials.

RESULTS: A total of 6 RCTs met the inclusion criteria, and most were of low methodological quality. When compared with Western medicine therapy alone, meta-analysis of 5 RCTs indicated favorable statistically significant effects of Gua Sha therapy plus Western medicine on the Kupperman Menopausal Index (KMI) Score [mean difference (MD) = -4.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) (-5.37, -3.77), p < 0.01; heterogeneity: Chi2 = 29.57 p < 0.01, I2 = 86%]. Moreover, study participants who received Gua Sha therapy plus Western medicine therapy showed significantly greater improvements in serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) [MD = -5.00, 95% CI (-9.60, -0.40), p = 0.03], luteinizing hormone (LH) [MD = -4.00, 95% CI (-7.67, -0.33), p = 0.03], and E2 [MD = -6.60, 95% CI (-12.32, -0.88), p = 0.02] compared to participants in the Western medicine therapy group, with a low heterogeneity (Chi2 = 0.12, p = 0.94, I2 = 0% in FSH; Chi2 = 0.19 p = 0.91, I2 = 0% in LH; Chi2 = 0.93, p = 0.63, I2 = 0% in E2). In addition, the pooled results displayed favorable significant effects of Gua Sha therapy plus the Western medicine therapy on the MENQOL scale when compared with the Western medicine therapy alone [MD = -5.13, 95% CI (-7.45, -2.81), p < 0.01] with low heterogeneity (Chi2 = 0.66, p = 0.42, I2 = 0%).

CONCLUSION: Preliminary evidence supported the hypothesis that Gua Sha therapy effectively improved the treatment efficacy in patients with perimenopausal syndrome. Additional studies will be required to elucidate optimal frequency and dosage of Gua Sha.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2018

Erschienen:

2018

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:31

Enthalten in:

Complementary therapies in clinical practice - 31(2018) vom: 15. Mai, Seite 268-277

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Ren, Qing [VerfasserIn]
Yu, Xinyu [VerfasserIn]
Liao, Fujiu [VerfasserIn]
Chen, Xiaofan [VerfasserIn]
Yan, Dongmei [VerfasserIn]
Nie, Heyun [VerfasserIn]
Fang, Jinju [VerfasserIn]
Yang, Meng [VerfasserIn]
Zhou, Xu [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Gua Sha therapy
Journal Article
Meta-Analysis
Meta-analysis
Perimenopausal syndrome
Review
Systematic Review
Systematic review

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 20.08.2018

Date Revised 02.12.2018

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.03.012

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM283529660