Systematic Review of Efficacy and Safety of the Treatment ofGuipi Decoction for Depression / 中国中医药信息杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety ofGuipi Decoction vs. antidepressants for depression. Methods Articles about the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) ofGuipi Decoction for depression were searched in the databases of CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Data, CMB, Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane Library. Two researchers independently screened the articles, extracted the data, and evaluated the methodological quality. Meta-analyses were performed by using RevMan 5.2 software.Results A total of 9 RCTs articles involving 893 cases were included. Meta-analysis results suggested that as compared with antidepressants only,Guipi Decoction together with antidepressants was associated with a significantly greater reduction in HAMD scores (MD=-4.63, 95%CI [-5.95, -3.32];P<0.001). There was no significant difference in HAMD scores betweenGuipi Decoction used alone and antidepressants (MD=-0.30, 95%CI [-4.22, 3.62];P=0.88). As compared with antidepressants,Guipi Decoction together with antidepressants increased in the rates of total effective events (RR=1.26, 95%CI [1.14, 1.38];P<0.001). No serious adverse reactions were reported. Meta-analysis results suggested that the incidence of adverse reactions of Guipi Decoction(RR=0.48, 95%CI [0.40, 0.58];P<0.001) andGuipi Decoction together with antidepressants (RR=0.51, 95%CI [0.30, 0.85];P=0.010) were lower than that of antidepressants alone.Conclusion The present evidence suggests thatGuipi Decoction is effective and relatively safe for patients with depression. However, because the quality of included research was low, more large-scale RCTs with multicenter and high quality are needed for further verification.