Traditional Chinese medicine for symptoms of upper respiratory tract of COVID-19: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Assessing the effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for symptoms of upper respiratory tract of coronavirus disease 2019 is the main purpose of this systematic review protocol. METHODS: The following electronic databases will be searched from inception to Sep 2020: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, TCM, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP database), and Wan-Fang Database. Search dates: from inception dates to June 2020. Language: English. Publication period: from inception dates to June 2020. The primary outcome is the time and rate of appearance of main symptoms (including coughing, pharyngalgia, and nasal obstruction). The secondary outcome is the length of hospital stay. Two independent reviewers will conduct the study selection, data extraction and assessment. RevMan V.5.3 will be used for the assessment of risk of bias and data synthesis. RESULTS: The results will provide a high-quality synthesis of current evidence for researchers in this subject area. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of our study will provide an evidence to judge whether TCM is effective and safe for the patients with symptoms of upper respiratory tract of coronavirus disease 2019. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This protocol will not evaluate individual patient information or affect patient rights and therefore does not require ethical approval. Results from this review will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and conference reports. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020187422.