Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of new drugs of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for acute upper respiratory tract infection (common cold).
Methods: Reports regarding randomized controlled trials of Chinese medicine for common cold were reviewed. Related reports were selected and the methodological quality of the trials was assessed by the Jadad scale. Meanwhile, the stratified analysis was made according to different TCM syndrome types of common cold.
Results: Thirteen randomized controlled trials consistent with the inclusion criteria were selected and reviewed. As TCM treatment group was compared with control group, the meta analysis indicated that the relative risk (RR) for obviously effective rate was 1.10, and the 95% confidence interval (CI) was [1.05, 1.16]; the weighted mean difference (WMD) of the onset time of lowering body temperature was -1.70, and the 95% CI was [-2.76, -0.65]. There were significant differences in the above evaluation indexes between the two groups (P=0.000 2, P=0.002). The WMD of disappearing time of fever was -1.32, and the 95% CI was [-3.14, 0.49], while there was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.15). As the common cold patients with wind-heat syndrome in the TCM treatment group were compared with those in the control group, the meta analysis indicated that the RR for obviously effective rate was 1.11, the 95% CI was [1.05, 1.19], and there was significant difference between the two groups (P=0.000 7). As the common cold patients with wind-cold syndrome in the TCM treatment group were compared with those in the control group, the meta analysis indicated that the RR for obviously effective rate was 1.07, the 95% CI was [0.99, 1.16], and there was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.10). Serious adverse reactions had not been reported in the trials.
Conclusion: TCM new drugs developed in recent years for preventing and treating common cold have better therapeutic effects than the old ones. They can accelerate the onset time of lowering body temperature and improve the symptoms of common cold without any significant adverse reactions. Because of lacking of placebo-controlled and blank-controlled studies, further high-quality trials are still needed.