Abstract
BackgroundZheng Qing Feng Tong Ning (ZQFTN) is a sinomenine (SIN) preparation that has been used in clinical practice. Our study aimed to assess the methodological and reporting quality of meta-analyses on the Chinese herbal formula ZQFTN for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).MethodsSystematic searches were carried out with the 5 following electronic databases from inception to July 2019: China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, VIP database for Chinese technical periodicals (VIP), Cochrane Library and PubMed. The quality of the methodology and reporting was measured with the assessment of multiple systematic reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) scale, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE).ResultsEight studies were identified. Among the 16 items of the AMSTAR 2 scale, four items were optimally reported (“Y” =100% of the items), and another four items were poorly reported (“Y” =0% of the items). Only 2 studies received a good overall score (“Y” ≥50% of the items). Regarding the PRISMA statement, the scores of 5 studies were lower than the average score (17.69), indicating that the quality of the reports was very low. In terms of the GRADE, none of the 61 results were of high quality (0.0%). Fifteen results were of medium quality (25%), 34 were of low quality (55%), and 12 were of very low quality (20%). Among the five downgrading factors, deviation risk (n = 61, 100%) was the most common downgrading factor, followed by inconsistency (n = 30, 50%), publication bias (n = 17, 28%), inaccuracy (n = 11, 18%) and indirectness (n = 0, 0%).ConclusionsThe methodological and reporting quality of the meta-analyses and systematic reviews in the included studies are less than optimal, and researchers should undergo additional training and follow the AMSTAR 2 scale, PRISMA statement and GRADE to design high-quality studies in the future.
Highlights
IntroductionOur study aimed to assess the methodological and reporting quality of meta-analyses on the Chinese herbal formula Zheng Qing Feng Tong Ning (ZQFTN) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
Selection of reviews The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) article types were systematic reviews and meta-analyses; (2) the drug intervention was SIN, SIN preparations, Zheng Qing Feng Tong Ning (ZQFTN), or ZQFTN sustained-release tablets; (3) studies that utilized the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) classification standards established by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) in 1987; (4) articles published in English or Chinese; and (5) studies published in journals
In addition to AMSTAR 2, PRISMA was used, and the GRADE was used to assess the quality of evidence for the outcome of RA interventions with SIN or ZQFTN
Summary
Our study aimed to assess the methodological and reporting quality of meta-analyses on the Chinese herbal formula ZQFTN for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory autoimmune disease that may trouble patients as a result of morning stiffness, painful joints, chronic inflammation, synovitis, irrecoverable joint damage, and the presence of autoantibodies [1, 2]. Some studies have reported that sinomenine (SIN), Tripterygium wilfordii Hook, Simiao pill, Wang-bi tablet, total glucosides of paeony (TGP) [10,11,12,13,14,15] and other traditional Chinese medicines and their related prescriptions possess beneficial effects and show good clinical efficacy in the treatment of RA, supporting why traditional Chinese medicines and prescriptions have received increasing attention [16,17,18]
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