ArticleBMC complementary and alternative medicine2019
Placebo design in WHO-registered trials of Chinese herbal medicine need improvements.
Article in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of Gegen Qinlian decoction plus metformin for type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026 · on this mapPooled it
- Effects and safety of Chinese herbal medicine on inflammatory biomarkers in cardiovascular diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Pooled it
- The efficacy and safety of Femoston combined with Baoqing granules for kidney Yin deficiency in perimenopausal women: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Trial
- Assessing Organoleptic Properties Simulation of a Placebo of Raw Food Material to a Chinese Medicine Oral Liquid FYTF-919.BioMed research international · 2026Trial
- Chinese herbal medicine (JianPi-BuShen) and completion rate of adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with stage II and III colon cancer: A randomized clinical trial.European journal of cancer (Oxford, England : 1990) · 2024Trial
- Development Timelines of Innovative Drugs in China: A 15-Year Cross-Sectional Analysis of Characteristics and Influencing Factors.Clinical and translational science · 2026Article
- Risk of bias among Chinese-language randomized controlled trials on Chinese herbal medicine included in meta-analyses published in 2021-2022: A cross-sectional study.Integrative medicine research · 2026Article
- Ethical challenges of placebo use in herbal medicine trials: multiple stakeholder perspectives from qualitative interviews.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- Progress in Research on Alleviating the Symptoms Associated With Advanced Cancer Using Traditional Chinese Medicine.Pain research & management · 2026Review
- Efficacy, Safety, and Economic Evaluation of Gamidaeganghwal-Tang in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: Protocol for a Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Trial [Letter].Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Revolutionizing Chinese medicine granule placebo with a machine learning four-color model.Chinese medicine · 2025Article
- Reconciling Methodological Paradigms Toward More Accurate Evaluation of Personalized Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Intervention in Standardized Trials: Introducing the TRIPLE-TCM Trial Framework.Therapeutics and clinical risk management · 2025Article
- Study design of herbal medicine clinical trials: a descriptive analysis of published studies investigating the effects of herbal medicinal products on human participants.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Review
- Technology Readiness Level Roadmap for Developing Innovative Herbal Medicinal Products.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Qualified placebo for trials of herbal medicine treatment in rare diseases? A cross-sectional analysis.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2023Article
- Efficacy and Safety of Woohwangchungsimwon Combined with Donepezil in Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia in Patients with Probable Alzheimer's Disease: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Review
- The Effects and Safety of Chinese Herbal Medicine on Blood Lipid Profiles in Placebo-Controlled Weight-Loss Trials: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Review
- Article
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Herbal Medicine Buyang Huanwu Tang in Patients with Poststroke Fatigue.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPhysical identical and pharmacological inert are the basic requirements for placebo design, which are essential in clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of an intervention. However, it is difficult to makeup a placebo of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) because of special color, taste and smell, etc. Currently, there is no specific requirements and standards for the creation of a CHM-placebo. The purpose of this study is to review the characteristics of the CHM-placebo design and application in registered clinical trials with CHM interventions and identify the common problems, if any.
methodsThe World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) was systematically searched for CHM interventional trials with placebo-controlled design up to 31 December 2017. Registered information of each included trial was collected from specific registries involved in ICTRP through hyperlinks. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the characteristics of placebo design in CHM trial registrations.
resultsA total of 889 CHM interventional trials were registered from 1999 to 2017, and 40.8% (363) of them included CHM-placebo control design. The common ways of their design were: placebo as sole control (191, 52.6%); placebo as add-on control with baseline treatment (84, 23.1%); and placebo as double-dummy control (57, 15.7%). Among 363 included trials, 46 (12.7%) reported the compositions of placebos, including CHM ingredients (17 trials), excipients and other agents (29 trials). 2 (0.6%) reported pharmacological inert testing, and 52 (14.3%) descripted their placebos to be physically identical with the CHMs. 14 (3.9%) reported quality control of placebos, and 2 (0.6%) provided blinding assessment of placebos.
conclusionsThe placebos included in most CHM trial registrations is not optimal in terms of placebo design, application, evaluation and reporting. Specific guidelines or standards of CHM-placebo design, including usage requirements, preparation specifications, quality assessments and reporting guidelines should be developed thus to improve their quality.
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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.