A meta-analysis, co-led by authors Hua Lei, and Minghui Chen, assessed the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) baths in the treatment of patients with psoriasis vulgaris, and found a significant effect with low incidence of adverse reactions. The article ultimately suggested that TCM bathing may be considered in the treatment of patients with psoriasis vulgaris. The study was published in Annals of Palliative Medicine.
A total of 13 articles were analyzed. The heterogeneity analysis of the total effective rate (TER) in the articles displayed obvious differences between the two groups (p = 0.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.9–4.77]. Eight articles reported the incidence of adverse reactions, and the results were greatly different between the two groups (p = 0.05; 95% CI, 0.22–0.77). There were nine articles reporting psoriasis area and severity (PASI) index, and the overall efficacy was greatly different between the two groups (p = 0.05; 95% CI, –5.38 to –1.88).
The study listed limitations, including that it mainly divided participants by treatment methods. Age, gender, and other diseases of the participants may have impacted the experimental results.
Authors summarized their findings on the efficacy and safety of TCM as such, “TER of treatment in this study was higher in the experimental group; the incidence of adverse reactions was lower in the experimental group; and the area and severity of psoriasis were lower in the experimental group.”
Source: Annals of Palliative Medicine
