The effectiveness of acupoint herbal patching for non-specific low back pain: A Protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundNon-specific low back pain(NS-LBP) is related to disability and work absence and accounts for high economical costs of global.It is a problem that has a negative impact on physical, mental health of patients and quality of life. At present, acupoint herbal patching(AHP) as an adjuvant therapy is currently undergoing clinical trials in different medical centers. This study aimed to design a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the effects of AHP on non-specific low back pain(NS-LBP). MethodsWe will search the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, Embase, the Web of Science, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database,the Chinese Scientific Journal Database, the Wan-Fang Database and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure. The primary outcome measures will be clinical effective rate, functional outcomes, and quality of life. Data that meets the inclusion criteria will be extracted and analyzed using RevMan V.5.3 software. Two reviewers will evaluate the studies using the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool. We will use the GRADE approach to assess the overall quality of evidence supporting the primary outcomes. We will also use Spass software (Version19.0) for complex network analysis to explore the potential core prescription of acupoint herbal patching for functional constipation. ResultsThis systematic review protocol will analyze the effectiveness, quality of life, improvement of the symptom and safety of acupoint herbal patching therapy for non-specific low back pain. ConclusionThe findings of this systematic review will provide evidence to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupoint herbal patching for non-specific low back pain.