title: Acupuncture for erectile dysfunction: a systematic review protocol.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This systematic review protocol aims to provide a protocol for assessing the safety and effectiveness of acupuncture for the treatment of erectile dysfunction(ED). Previous systematic reviews did not draw convincing conclusions owing to high heterogeneity and few included randomised controlled trials, so it is necessary to reassess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for ED.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight electronic databases will be searched: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, PsycInfo, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), the Chinese Medical Current Content (CMCC) and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Related Chinese literature will be searched in other Chinese databases. All relevant randomised controlled trials in English or Chinese without any restrictions of publication type will be included. The main outcome measure will be improvements in sexual activity assessed by validated questionnaires. Assessment of risk of bias, data synthesis and subgroup analysis will be carried out using Review Manager 5.3.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The results of the systematic review will be disseminated via publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at a relevant conference. The data we will use do not include individual patient data, so ethical approval is not required.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  PROSPERO CRD42014013575.
authors: Department of Acupuncture, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Sciences, Beijing, China Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
authors: Xiaoming
authors: X
authors: Cui
authors: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
authors: Xiaoli
authors: X
authors: Li
authors: Department of Acupuncture, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors: Weina
authors: W
authors: Peng
authors: Department of Acupuncture, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Sciences, Beijing, China Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Zhou
authors: Department of Acupuncture, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors: Jinna
authors: J
authors: Yu
authors: Department of Acupuncture, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors: Yongming
authors: Y
authors: Ye
authors: Department of Acupuncture, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors: Zhishun
authors: Z
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012107:Research Design; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic
keywords: acupuncture; erectile dysfunction < UROLOGY; protocol; systematic reiew