Effects of moxibustion on pain behaviors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Pain is the main symptom of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Reports of the effects of moxibustion on patients with rheumatoid arthritis have reached various conclusions. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of moxibustion on pain in patients with RA. METHODS: A systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and the Chinese databases Wan Fang Med Database, CNKI, and VIP (until November, 2018) was used to identify studies reporting pain (on a visual analogue scale (VAS)), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and rheumatoid factor (RF) levels, response rate, and the ACR50 rate in patients with RA. Results were expressed as mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: Six studies involving 281 participants were included. Moxibustion had significant effects on pain (VAS: MD = −0.53, 95% CI [−0.94, −0.12], P =.01). Moreover, moxibustion had effects on CRP (MD = −2.84, 95% CI [−5.13, −0.55], P =.01), ESR (MD = −8.44, 95% CI ([−13.19, −3.68], P =.0005), and RF (MD = −6.39, 95% CI [−18.57, 5.79], P =.30). Additionally, it had effects on response rate (n = 249, RR = 1.26, 95% CI [1.11, 1.43], P =.0004) and ACR50 rate (n = 140, RR = 1.44, 95% CI [1.11, 1.88], P =.007). CONCLUSION: We found that moxibustion with Western medicine therapy is superior to Western medicine therapy alone for pain in patients with RA. Moxibustion had significant effects on pain in patients with RA, but the effects of moxibustion on inflammatory factors in RA were unclear.