title: Acupoint herbal patching for allergic rhinitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acupoint herbal patching (AHP) is extensively used in treatment of allergic rhinitis in China. However, existing systematic review is insufficient.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of AHP in treating allergic rhinitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched seven electronic databases for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) from inception until August 2014.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two authors selected studies, extracted data and evaluated risk of bias independently. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was applied to assess the methodological quality of the included trials, and RevMan 5.2 software was utilised to perform data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty RCTs involving 2438 participants were included. Most of them were evaluated as high risk of bias. Acupoint herbal patching significantly decreased the recurrence rate at 6 months compared with Western medicine (RR 0.52; 95% CI 0.42-0.64), and similar effect was found for AHP plus Western medicine versus Western medicine (RR 0.53; 95% CI 0.44-0.65). Acupoint herbal patching appeared to be more effective than placebo in improving total clinical symptoms and signs after treatment and at 6 months, and in improving quality of life at <3 months and over 3 months. No severe adverse effects were found in the AHP groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acupoint herbal patching alone or combined with Western medicine appears to be more effective than placebo or Western medicine, respectively. Acupoint herbal patching seems to be a safe treatment. However, the findings should be interpreted with caution. Further large-scale, rigorously designed trials are warranted to confirm the findings.
authors.affiliation: Center for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.|School of Nursing, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Guangdong Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: L-J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Center for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: G-Y
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Center for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: J-P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D065631:Rhinitis, Allergic / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal