Moxibustion for rheumatoid arthritis: Protocol for a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a serious chronic disease which will result in serious syndrome such as joints stiffness, disability, and death. The major medications treating RA usually make sense and side effects, while moxibustion is known as a safe and effective treatment for RA. This review aims to systematically evaluate the effect and safety of moxibustion for treating RA. METHODS: The following databases will be searched from their inception to March 2019: PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, Wan-Fang Databases, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Citation Information by National Institute of Informatics, Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP Database). Two reviewers will search these databases, select data and measure the quality of studies independently. The methodological quality will be assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Data will be synthesized by either the fixed-effects or random-effects model according to a heterogeneity test. The primary outcome is symptom evaluation including morning stiffness, pain and joint swelling. The number of joints affected by RA, adverse effects, quality of life, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C reactive protein (CRP), and Rheumatoid factor (RF) will be evaluated as secondary outcomes. Risk ratio for dichotomous data and mean differences with a 95% confidence interval for continuous data will be adopted to express the effect and safety of acupuncture for RA. RESULTS: This study will provide a high-quality synthesis of current evidence of moxibustion for asthma from several aspects including morning stiffness, pain and joint swelling. The number of joints affected by RA, adverse effects, quality of life, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C reactive protein (CRP), and Rheumatoid factor (RF). CONCLUSION: The conclusion of our study will provide updated evidence to judge whether moxibustion is an effective and safe intervention for patients with RA. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: As individuals will not be involved, the ethical approval will not be required. This review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal or at a relevant conference. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019126685.