A comprehensive quality analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials of Asian ginseng and American ginseng based on the CONSORT guideline

Weijie Chen; Xiuzhu Li; Zhejie Chen; Wei Hao; Peifen Yao; Meng Li; Kunmeng Liu; Hao Hu; Shengpeng Wang; Yitao Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jgr.2021.05.003

A comprehensive quality analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials of Asian ginseng and American ginseng based on the CONSORT guideline

J Ginseng Res. 2022 Jan;46(1):71-78. doi: 10.1016/j.jgr.2021.05.003. Epub 2021 May 18.

Authors

Weijie Chen¹, Xiuzhu Li¹, Zhejie Chen¹, Wei Hao¹, Peifen Yao¹, Meng Li¹, Kunmeng Liu¹, Hao Hu¹, Shengpeng Wang¹, Yitao Wang¹

Affiliation

¹ State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macao.

Abstract

Ginseng is an international herb that has been used for thousands of years. Two species most commonly applied and investigated in the ginseng family are Asian ginseng and American ginseng. The number of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) has conspicuously increased, driven by the rapid development of ginseng. However, the reporting of RCT items of ginseng is deficient because of different trial designs and reporting formats, which is a challenge for researchers who are looking for the data with high quality and reliability. Thus, this study focused on providing an extensive analysis of these two species and examined the quality of the RCTs, based on the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guideline. Ninety-one RCTs conducted from 1980 to 2019 that were related to Asian ginseng and American ginseng used singly met our inclusion criteria. We found that the reporting quality of the two species has improved during the past 40 years. Publication date and sample size were significantly associated with the reporting quality. Rigorous RCTs designed for the species of ginseng are warranted, which can shed light on product research and development of ginseng in the future.

Keywords: CONSORT; ginseng; quality analysis; randomized controlled clinical trials.