Effectiveness and safety of Guilu Erxian Glue (a traditional Chinese medicinal product) for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of postmenopausal osteoporosis is rapidly rising, with a high proportion of patients who are vulnerable to fractures and other chronic symptoms. The commonly applied Western medicine lacks cost-efficiency and tends to have various potential side effects. Guilu Erxian Glue (GEG), an orally taken traditional Chinese medicinal product, has been advocated to manage osteoporosis for a long period. However, the evidence of the efficacy of GEG on osteoporosis seems to be less convincing and conclusive. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness and safety of GEG on postmenopausal osteoporosis. METHODS: We will implement a systematic review and meta-analysis following the requests of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses protocols (PRISMA-P). The PubMed database, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, VIP database, Sinomed, and grey literature sources will be retrieved for eligible studies. Randomized controlled trials investigating GEG in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis employing osteoporosis-associated outcomes measures will be eligible for inclusion. Two reviewers will independently complete the study selection procedure, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment. A third reviewer will mediate when irreconcilable discrepancies occur. Should sufficient clinical homogeneity exist, a meta-analysis will be conducted. Additionally, we will utilize the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation to assess the strength of quantitative outcomes. RESULTS: The current systematic review and meta-analysis will provide the effectiveness and safety of GEG on postmenopausal osteoporosis. CONCLUSION: The study will offer high-quality and explicit evidence for applying GEG on the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. OSF REGISTRATION: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/JCVBH.