Herbal medicines for the treatment of acute otitis media: protocol for a systematic review

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this systematic review is to analyse the trial data on the efficacy of herbal medicines for acute otitis media. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The following 11 databases will be searched from their inception: MEDLINE, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), EMBASE, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), China Network Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and five Korean databases (Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), DBPIA, KoreaMed, Research Information Service System (RISS) and the Korean Studies Information Service System (KISS)). The selection of the studies, the data abstraction and the validations will be performed independently by two researchers. DISSEMINATION: The systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. The review will also be disseminated electronically and in print. Updates of the review will be conducted to inform and guide the healthcare practice and policy. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO 2013:CRD42013005100.