title: Topical application of Chinese herbal medicine for atopic eczema: a systematic review with a meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Atopic eczema (AE) affects 10-20% of children in industrialised countries.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This review systematically evaluated the effects and safety of topical use of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for AE.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomised controlled trials on topical use of CHM were identified through searching electronic databases. Their risk of bias was assessed. Meta-analysis was conducted by employing the RevMan 5.2 software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ten studies involving 1,058 participants were included. These studies had high risk of bias in randomisation, blinding and outcome data. Meta-analysis showed that topical applications of CHM were superior to conventional medications in total effectiveness rate (risk ratio 1.19; 95% confidence interval 1.04 to 1.36). No significant difference was observed in overall skin lesion score (standardised mean difference -0.05; 95% confidence interval -0.88 to 0.78) compared to corticosteroid creams.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was no conclusive evidence to demonstrate that topical application of CHM for AE was superior to other control interventions due to methodological weaknesses of the included randomised controlled trials.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Chinese Medicine, School of Health Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.
authors.forename: Sherman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Angela Weihong
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chun Guang
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chuanjian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Charlie Changli
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Xue
mesh_terms: D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015982:Bias; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal