Evaluation on Effectiveness and Safety of Chinese Herbs in Treatment of Sub-health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Chinese herbs in the treatment of sub-health systematically.

METHODS

Nine databases were systematically and extensively searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about Chinese herbs in the treatment of sub-health. The outcomes included overall effective rate, main symptoms, quality of life, etc. Literature screening, data extraction and quality assessment were conducted according to Cochrane Handbook 5.1. Meta-analysis was conducted to the included literature with Review Manager Software.

RESULTS

Seventy-two studies involving 9,296 patients with sub-health were included with 4,908 patients in experimental groups and 4,387 patients in control groups. The overall quality of included clinical research was not high. In the aspect of improving overall effective rate, relieving main symptoms, Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) score, Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) score, Fatigue Scale-14 (FS-14), Cornell Medical Index (CMI) score and discontinuation rate, the effects of experimental groups were better than that of control groups. According to available research reports, adverse reactions in Chinese herb groups were mainly mild gastrointestinal symptoms, which did not affect the treatment.

CONCLUSION

Chinese herbs have a curative effect in the treatment of sub-health. However, there are no clear criteria for diagnosis and curative effectiveness judgment globally, which would affect the accuracy of curative effect evaluation.