Acupuncture for perimenopausal depression: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Depression is one of common disease in the female perimenopausal period. It deprives women of their right to work and live normally, and even destroys the happiness of their families. Acupuncture is a promising treatment for perimenopausal depression. METHODS: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI), Chongqing VIP (CQVIP), Wanfang Data, and on-line trial registries such as ClinicalTrials.gov (ClinicalTrials.gov/), European Medicines Agency (EMA)(www.ema.europa.eu/ema/), WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (www.who.int/ictrp) will be searched from establishment of the database until Oct. 2018. There are no restrictions on the language of publication. The randomized controlled trials of acupuncture (electroacupuncture and manual acupuncture) for perimenopausal depression will be included, and all articles will be screened and collected by 2 reviewers independently. Revman 5.3.5 software will be used for meta-analysis. The specific process will refer to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Review. RESULTS: The efficacy and safety of acupuncture for perimenopausal depression will be comprehensively assessed from the outcomes, including the effective rate, HAMD score, estrogen level and incidence of adverse events. CONCLUSION: This systematic review will provide evidence for whether acupuncture can improve perimenopausal depression. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: There is no requirement of ethical approval, and the review will be reported in a peer-reviewed journal.