Effect of acupoint therapies on prostatitis: A systematic review protocol

BACKGROUND: Prostatitis is a common urinary infectious disease. Acupoint therapies, including massage, acupuncture, acupoints injection, acupressure, and moxibustion, showed clinical and long-lasting benefits for prostatitis, but the efficiency of acupoint therapies was poorly evaluated. The current review is attempted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the different acupoint-based therapies for prostatitis. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing acupoint therapies for prostatitis are included in the following databases: Web of Science, PubMed, Science Direct, Wan Fang Data Knowledge Service Platform, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP database), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and EMBASE. All RCTs on acupoint or related interventions will be included we will also conduct unpublished academic research data. Databases will be searched from inception to Dec 2019. Study inclusion, data extraction, and quality assessment will be performed independently by 2 reviewers. Assessment of risk of bias and data synthesis will be performed by RevMan 5.3 software. Cochrane criteria for risk-of-bias will be used to assess the methodological quality of the trials. RESULTS: According to the data of effective rate, quality of life, the cure rate, the recurrent rate, and the complications rate, this study will provide an evidence-based review of acupoint therapies for prostatitis. CONCLUSION: This systematic review will evaluate the efficacy, and safety of the different acupoint-based therapies for prostatitis, we will recommend which acupoint therapies may be considered as the effective treatment for prostatitis, and show how it might work. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/H7KQJ.