Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Review Article

The Role of Acupoint Application of Herbal Medicine for Asthma: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trials

Table 3

Summary of GRADE evidence: Comparison of long-term efficacy between AAHM plus RP and placebo plus RP.


Outcomes	Number of participants (number of Studies)	Quality of evidence (GRADE)	Absolute effect
Outcomes	Number of participants (number of Studies)	Quality of evidence (GRADE)	Control group (mean)	Comparison between groups（95% CI）

FEV₁ (%)	449 (5 RCTs)	⊕⊕○○ Low 1,4	70.70%	↑ 11.80 (2.84, 20.76)
FEV₁/FVC	130 (2 RCTs)	⊕○○○ Very low 1,2,3	67.47%	No statistical significance
FAE	148 (2 RCTs)	⊕○○○ Very Low 2,3,4	3.03 times	No statistical significance
ACT	171 (2 RCTs)	⊕○○○ Very Low 1,2,3	20.71 points	No statistical significance
AQLQ	70 (1 RCT)	⊕⊕⊕○ Moderate 3	109.61 points	↑ 6.53 (2.70, 10.36)
Total IgE	208 (2 RCTs)	⊕○○○ Very Low 1,2,3,4	693.62 IU/ml	No statistical significance
EOS	120 (1 RCT)	⊕⊕○○ Low 3,4	0.61 × 0.09/L	↓ –0.31 (–0.37, –0.25)

Abbreviations: ACT: asthma control test, AQLQ: asthma quality of life questionnaire, FAE: frequency of acute exacerbations, IgE: immunoglobulin E, EOS: eosinophil, FEV₁: Forced expiratory volume in 1 second, and FVC: forced vital capacity. 1. Considerable statistical heterogeneity, 2. the credible interval contains invalid values and wide interval limits the accuracy of the results, 3. insufficient sample size limits the accuracy of the results, and 4. unclear sequence generation.