Effect of moxibustion on quality of life after chemotherapy in patients with the malignant tumor: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis

BACKGROUND: The quality of life of patients with malignant tumor can be affected by the severity and treatment of the disease. After chemotherapy, the main symptoms are gastrointestinal reactions, including nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and so on, and hematologic response including leukopenia, anemia, and bleeding in severe cases. Currently, moxibustion is conducted to improve the living life of patients after chemotherapy. This article will make a comprehensive and objective discussion in terms of the effect of moxibustion on quality of life after chemotherapy in patients with malignant tumors. METHODS: After searching the Chinese database (CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Database, and Chinese Biomedical Database) and English database (PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library Web of Science), Meta-analysis was performed according to the randomized controlled trial of moxibustion after chemotherapy in patients with malignant tumors. The retrieval time was limited from the time of building the repository to October 2020. Two researchers independently conducted data extraction and quality evaluation of literature on the included studies, and RevMan5.3 was used for Meta-analysis on the included literature. RESULTS: After analyzing the included literature, this study suggested that by combining chemotherapy with moxibustion, the adverse reactions such as nausea, vomiting, appetite, and insomnia can be relieved. Meanwhile, the psychological burden of patients can be alleviated to a certain extent. Therefore, moxibustion can improve the overall health level and quality of life of patients with malignant tumors. CONCLUSION: This study will provide evidence-based medical evidence that moxibustion can improve the quality of life after chemotherapy and reduce chemotherapy's adverse reactions in patients with malignant tumors. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Private information from individuals will not be published. This systematic review also does not involve endangering participant rights. Ethical approval was not required. The results may be published in a peer-reviewed journal or disseminated at relevant conferences. OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/Q5NYM.