Effects of moxibustion for obesity: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a chronic disease associated with lethal health conditions. Moxibustion, a frequently used treatment in traditional Chinese medicine, is effective and safe for the treatment of obesity. However, the evidence has not been systematically collected and combined to date. This systematic review and meta-analysis will analyze the effects of moxibustion on obesity. METHODS: The following databases will be searched: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, 1 Chinese database (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure), 1 Japanese database (Citation Information by the National Institute of Informatics), and 3 Korean databases (Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, ScienceON, and KoreaMed). The quality of the included studies will be assessed according to the Cochrane Assessment Tool for Risk of Bias. Data from the included studies will be synthesized for meta-analysis. The primary outcome will be body weight, and the secondary outcomes will be body mass index, waist-hip ratio, waist circumference, hip circumference, and effective rate. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Ethical approval is not necessary for this study because it will not include any patient information. The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis will be publicly available and published in a peer-reviewed journal. REGISTRATION NUMBER: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/NTKDF (https://osf.io/ntkdf).