Complementary and alternative medicine therapies and COVID-19: a systematic review
Author: Mahin Badakhsh1, Majid Dastras2, Zohreh Sarchahi3, Mahboobe Doostkami4, Adel Mir5, Salehoddin Bouya6
Affiliation:
1 Department of Midwifery, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran.
2 Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
3 Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences, Neyshabur, Iran.
4 Department of Operating Room, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
5 Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran.
6 Internal Medicine and Nephrology, Clinical Immunology Research Center, Ali-Ebne Abitaleb Hospital, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
Conference/Journal: Rev Environ Health
Date published: 2021 Apr 12
Other:
Special Notes: doi: 10.1515/reveh-2021-0012. , Word Count: 176
Objectives:
Despite the high prevalence of coronavirus and various treatment approaches, including complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), there is still no definitive treatment for coronavirus. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of CAM interventions on COVID-19 patients.
Content:
Four databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and EMBASE) were searched from the inception of databases until July 16, 2020. Keywords included complementary and alternative medicine therapies and Coronavirus.
Summary and outlook:
Of the 1,137 studies searched, 14 studies performed on 972 COVID-19 patients entered the systematic review final stage. The results showed that different CAM interventions (acupuncture, Traditional Chinese medicine [TCM], relaxation, Qigong) significantly improved various psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, stress, sleep quality, negative emotions, quality of life) and physical symptoms (inflammatory factors, physical activity, chest pain, and respiratory function) in COVID-19 patients. The results showed that various CAM interventions have a positive effect on improving the various dimensions of coronavirus disease but since there are few studies in this regard, further studies using different CAM approaches are recommended.
Keywords: COVID-19; alternative medicine; complementary therapies; coronavirus.
PMID: 33838089 DOI: 10.1515/reveh-2021-0012
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