Efficacy and safety of moxibustion for menstrual irregularities: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Menstrual irregularities (MI) is 1 of the most common clinical gynaecological diseases, with abnormal menstrual cycles, abnormal bleeding, and abdominal pain before or during menstruation as the main clinical manifestations. In modern medicine, abnormalities in the function of the pituitary gland, hypothalamus, and ovaries can affect menstruation. Currently, hormone levels in the body are mostly regulated by hormonal drugs, but these drugs can lead to hormonal imbalance, which can lead to adverse reactions. Many clinical studies have reported that moxibustion has a good effect on MI treatment, but there is no relevant systematic review. So the purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of moxibustion in treating MI. METHODS: The following 8 electronic databases will be searched, including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Web of Science, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, Wanfang Database, and Chinese Biomedical Literatures Database from their inception to 1 December 2020 without any restrictions. Researchers retrieve the literature and extracted the data, evaluation of research methods, quality of literature. The outcomes will include total effective rate, incidence of any adverse events. We use the Cochrane Risk of a bias assessment tool to evaluate methodological qualities. Data synthesis will be completed by RevMan 5.3.0. RESULTS: We will show the results of this study in a peer-reviewed journal. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis will provide reliable evidence for treatment of menstrual irregularities. INPLASY REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY2020120042