Reporting guidelines for traditional Chinese medicine could be improved: a cross-sectional study

Xuanlin Li; Tengyue Wang; Weiman Shi; Yanfang Ma; Qi Wang; Donghai Zhou; Qiaoding Dai; Chengping Wen; Yaolong Chen; Lin Huang

doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2024.111279

Reporting guidelines for traditional Chinese medicine could be improved: a cross-sectional study

J Clin Epidemiol. 2024 Apr:168:111279. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2024.111279. Epub 2024 Feb 13.

Authors

Xuanlin Li¹, Tengyue Wang¹, Weiman Shi¹, Yanfang Ma², Qi Wang³, Donghai Zhou⁴, Qiaoding Dai⁵, Chengping Wen⁴, Yaolong Chen⁶, Lin Huang⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Basic Medical Science, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310053, China.
² School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, 999077, China.
³ Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310053, China.
⁵ Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine), Hangzhou, 310053, China.
⁶ Evidence-Based Medicine Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, 730013, Lanzhou, China; Research Unit of Evidence-Based Evaluation and Guidelines, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, 730013, Lanzhou, China; WHO Collaborating Centre for Guideline Implementation and Knowledge Translation, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730013, China. Electronic address: chevidence@lzu.edu.cn.
⁷ Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310053, China. Electronic address: huanglin@zcmu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38360378
DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2024.111279

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify available reporting guidelines for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), delineate their fundamental characteristics, assess the scientific rigor of their development process, and evaluate their dissemination.

Study design and setting: A search was conducted in Medline (via PubMed), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), SinoMed, WANFANG DATA, and the EQUATOR Network to identify TCM reporting guidelines. A preprepared Excel database was used to extract information on the basic characteristics, development process, and dissemination information. The development process quality of TCM reporting guidelines was assessed by evaluating their compliance with the Guidance for Developers of Health Research Reporting Guidelines (GDHRRG). The extent of dissemination of these guidelines was analyzed by examining the number of citations received.

Results: A total of 26 reporting guidelines for TCM were obtained from 20 academic journals, with 61.5% of them published in English journals. Among the guidelines, 14 (53.8%) were registered in the EQUATOR Network. On average, the compliance rate of GDHRRG guidelines was reported to be 63.3% ranging from 22.2% to 94.4%. Three steps showed poor compliance, namely guideline endorsement (23.1%), translated guidelines (19.2%), and developing a publication strategy (19.2%). Furthermore, the compliance rate of GDHRRG guidelines published in English journals was higher than that in Chinese journals. In terms of the dissemination, 15.4% of the guidelines had been cited over 100 times, while 73.1% had been cited less than 50 times.

Conclusion: The development of TCM reporting guidelines still has limitations in terms of regarding scientific rigor and follow-up dissemination. Therefore, it is important to ensure adherence to the scientific process in the development of TCM reporting guidelines and to strengthen their promotion, dissemination, and implementation.

Keywords: Compliance rate; Development; Dissemination; EQUATOR Network; Reporting guideline; Traditional Chinese medicine.

MeSH terms

China
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Medicine, Chinese Traditional*
PubMed
Research Report*