title: Chinese medicine for idiopathic Parkinson's disease: A meta analysis of randomized controlled trials.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy of Chinese medicine (CM) adjunct to conventional medications for idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Electronic English and Chinese databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese Medical Current Contents, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science and Technology Journal Database, Wanfang Med Database, and Traditional Chinese Medical Database System were used for key words searching in a highly sensitive search strategy. The extracted data was analyzed by the Review Manager 5.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve trials involving 869 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) I, II, III, IV scores and UPDRS V-IV total scores were used to be the primary outcomes, Parkinson Disease Question-39 (PDQ-39) and Scores of Chinese Medical Symptoms were the secondary outcomes. CM adjunct therapy had greater improvement in UPDRS I [2 trials; standardized mean difference (SMD)-0.40, 95% confidence interval (CI)-0.71 to-0.09; Z=2.49 (P=0.01)], II [5 trials; SMD-0.47, 95% CI-0.69 to-0.25; Z=4.20 (P<0.01)], III [5 trials; SMD-0.35, 95% CI-0.57 to-0.13; Z=3.16 (P=0.002)], IV scores [3 trials; SMD-0.32, 95% CI-0.60 to-0.03; Z=2.17 (P=0.03)], UPDRS I-IV total scores [7 trials; SMD-0.36, 95%CI-0.53 to-0.20; Z=4.24 (P<0.05)]. PDQ-39 and Chinese medical symptoms compared to the conventional medication only.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CM adjunct therapy has potential therapeutic benefits by decreasing UPDRS scores and reducing adverse effect.
authors: College of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, 350122, China.|477 Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Xiangyang, Hubei Province, 441000, China.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Wei
authors: School of Chinese Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors: Hai-Yong
authors: HY
authors: Chen
authors: Xiamen Haicang Hospital, Xiamen, Fujian Province, 361026, China.
authors: Wen
authors: W
authors: Fan
authors: Longyan First Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University, Longyan, Fujian Province, 364000, China.
authors: Shui-Fen
authors: SF
authors: Ye
authors: Second People's Hospital, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, 350003, China.
authors: Yi-Hui
authors: YH
authors: Xu
authors: College of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, 350122, China. caij1@163.com.
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Cai
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000009:adverse effects; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017594:Publication Bias; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Chinese medicine; Parkinson’s disease; meta analysis; randomized controlled trials