Syndrome Differentiation in Chinese Herbal Medicine for Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Literature Review of Randomized Trials

Table 1

Comparison of medication characteristics between two types of syndrome differentiation in randomized trials.

Item	Studies that enrolled patients with a specific TCM syndrome only; (𝑛=143)	Studies that enrolled patients with different TCM syndromes; (𝑛=81)	Statistics	P value
Preparation*
Decoction	113 (79.0%)	77 (95.1%)	—	0.001
Chinese patent medicine	12 (8.4%)	0 (0.0%)
Hospital preparation	18 (12.6%)	4 (4.9%)
Modified
Yes	52 (46.0%)	61 (79.2%)	𝜒^2=20.946	<0.001
No	61 (54.0%)	16 (20.8%)
Route of delivery
Oral	139 (97.2%)	74 (91.4%)	𝜒^2=2.635	0.105
Other	4 (2.8%)	7 (8.6%)
Course of treatment (days)	31±14	30±10	𝑍=−1.645	0.100
Time of followup (days)	121±83	150±53	𝑍=−0.176	0.860

∗Fisher’s exact test was used in statistical analysis.