ReviewSexual medicine2025
Efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of anxiety and depression in male sexual dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Review in Sexual medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Differential signal strength of male sexual dysfunction associated with antidepressants: a disproportionality analysis of FAERS database.Sexual medicine · 2026Article
- Global research trends in the comorbidity of erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation: a 20-year bibliometric analysis [2005-2025].Translational andrology and urology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Male Sexual Dysfunction (MSD), comprising erectile dysfunction (ED) and premature ejaculation (PE), exhibits an age-related prevalence affecting 50% of males beyond their fourth decade. Beyond physiological manifestations, MSD with comorbid anxiety and depression exerts profound psychosocial impacts. Emerging evidence suggests Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM) may offer therapeutic potential for addressing this clinical intersection. Aim: To systematically assess the efficacy of CHM on alleviating anxiety and depression in patients with MSD via a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: This study systematically searched four Chinese databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, China Biomedical Database, and VIP Database) and four international databases (PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating CHM interventions for MSD with comorbid anxiety and depression were identified. Outcomes: The primary outcome focused on changes in symptoms of anxiety and depression, while secondary outcomes encompassed overall male sexual function improvement. Results: By synthesizing data from 12 RCTs involving 1050 participants, our findings provide the first robust evidence that CHM significantly alleviates anxiety and depression in MSD, while concurrently improving core symptoms of MSD, such as PE and ED. Notably, CHM formulations demonstrated superior efficacy over SSRIs in improving both psychological scales, including Self-Rating Anxiety Scale [MD = -9.11, 95% CI (-11.53, -6.70), Clinical Implications: It provides evidence-based support to address the limitations of separating physical and mental symptoms in traditional treatment, further substantiates its application value within the integrated medical model, and explores new research avenues for designing personalized treatment plans for patients. Strengths and Limitations: A first-of-its-kind systematic evaluation was conducted to assess the comprehensive efficacy of traditional CHM in alleviating anxiety and depression symptoms while improving sexual function indicators among patients with MSD. The limited number of studies constitutes the most significant limitation. Conclusions: Our findings provide the first robust evidence that CHM significantly alleviates anxiety and depression in MSD patients, while concurrently improving core MSD symptoms, such as PE and ED.
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