ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2015
Chinese Herbal Bath Therapy for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Review in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Chinese herbal bath therapy for the treatment of uremic pruritus: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Traditional Chinese medicine for knee osteoarthritis: An overview of systematic review.PloS one · 2017Pooled it
- Traditional medicinal bath plants along the Beibu Gulf coast of Guangxi, China.Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine · 2026Article
- Traditional wisdom unveiled: an ethnobotanical exploration of medicinal bath plants for postpartum and infant healthcare among the Hakka people in Guangdong, China.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Article
- Effect of Shi-Style Steaming and Bathing Decoction in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: Study Protocol for a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.Journal of pain research · 2024Article
- Screen the Effective Components of Lycopodii herba on Rheumatoid Arthritis with the Aid of Spectrum-Effect Relationship and Uncover its Potential Mechanism.Inflammation · 2020Article
- Chinese herbal medicine Yanghe decoction for knee osteoarthritis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.Medicine · 2020Article
- Article
- An Apriori Algorithm-Based Association Rule Analysis to Identify Herb Combinations for Treating Uremic Pruritus Using Chinese Herbal Bath Therapy.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2020Article
- Decreased fracture incidence with traditional Chinese medicine therapy in patients with osteoporosis: a nationwide population-based cohort study.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2019Article
- Are Kidney-Tonifying and Blood-Activating Medicinal Herbs Better than NSAIDs for Knee Osteoarthritis? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2019Article
- Schisandrae Fructus ethanol extract ameliorates inflammatory responses and articular cartilage damage in monosodium iodoacetate-induced osteoarthritis in rats.EXCLI journal · 2017Article
- New Chronic Pain Treatments in the Outpatient Setting: Review Article.Current pain and headache reports · 2016Review
- Efficacy of Elaeagnus Angustifolia extract in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.EXCLI journal · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Objective. Chinese herbal bath therapy (CHBT) has traditionally been considered to have analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. We conducted the first meta-analysis evaluating its benefits for patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods. We searched three English and four Chinese databases through October, 2014. Randomized trials evaluating at least 2 weeks of CHBT for knee OA were selected. The effects of CHBT on clinical symptoms included both pain level (via the visual analog scale) and total effectiveness rate, which assessed pain, physical performance, and wellness. We performed random-effects meta-analyses using mean difference. Results. Fifteen studies totaling 1618 subjects met eligibility criteria. Bath prescription included, on average, 13 Chinese herbs with directions to steam and wash around the knee for 20-40 minutes once or twice daily. Mean treatment duration was 3 weeks. Results from meta-analysis showed superior pain improvement (mean difference = -0.59 points; 95% confidence intervals [CI], -0.83 to -0.36; p < 0.00001) and higher total effectiveness rate (risk ratio = 1.21; 95% CI, 1.15 to 1.28; p < 0.00001) when compared with standard western treatment. No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusion. Chinese herbal bath therapy may be a safe, effective, and simple alternative treatment modality for knee OA. Further rigorously designed, randomized trials are warranted.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.