Moxibustion for Obesity Complicated with Climacteric Syndrome: A protocol for systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Abstract

Introduction Obesity complicated with climacteric syndrome (OCCS) is a disease in which estrogen levels are reduced, resulting in an imbalance between lipid metabolism, energy intake and consumption, and weight gain. Moxibustion, as non-interventional external treatment that prevents and treats diseases through thermal stimulation of relevant acupoints, has a certain advantage in the treatment of OCCS because of its affordability, convenience, efficacy, simplicity and high compliance.Consequently, we intend to carry out a comprehensive meta-analysis and systematic review on the effectiveness and safety of moxibustion for OCCS in order to contribute evidence for clinical trials. Methods and analysis From conception to December 2023, electronic searches will be conducted without language restrictions in the databases of CBM, VIP, CNKI, Wanfang, PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. The International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO), the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry Center, and Clinical studies will all be searched for continuing experiments.The eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of moxibustion in treating OCCS should be included. The process of selecting studies, extracting data, and evaluating risk bias will be carried out separately by two reviewers. The meta-analysis of the included articles will be carried out via RevMan V.5.3 software. Meanwhile, the evidence's quality will be assessed by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation application. Ethics and dissemination Since this is a systematic review and meta-analysis of already published studies that excludes patient information or privacy, ethics approval is not necessary. Trial registration number INPLASY202220087.