Effect of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine on SARS: A review of clinical evidence

Table 1 Design of the RCTs of traditional Chinese medicine in combination with Western medicine for SARS

Study ID	Grade of method	Participants (case)				Trial interventions	Control interventions	Duration	Follow up	Main results
		Common type		Severe type
Zhao CH 2003	C	51		26		Western medicine plus compound herbs of kangfeidian No.1,2,3.	Western medicine	14-21d	No	Mortality, lung infiltrate absorption, symptom improvement, dosage of glucocorticosteroids.
Wang BE 2003	C	Trial 13	Control 17	Trial 18	Control 12	Western medicine plus compound herbs.	Western medicine	10-20 d	No	Mortality, lung infiltrate absorption, Secondary infections, dosage of methypred nisolone, SO2,
Wang RB 2003	C	Trial 5	Control 7	Trial 30	Control 23	Western medicine plus national drug No.2,3,4.	Western medicine	14 d	No	Mortality, lung infiltrate absorption, Secondary infections, symptom improvement
Jiang ZY 2003	B		40			Western medicine plus compound herbs No.1,2,3.	Western medicine	21 d or so	Yes	Lung infiltrate absorption, symptom improvement, quality of life
Zhang SN 2003	C		63			Western medicine plus kangfeidian No.4	Western medicine	7 d	No	Dose of glucocorticoid, lung infiltrate absorption, symptom improvement
Zhang XM 2003	C	Trial 7	Control 9	Trial 24	Control 23	Western medicine plus compound herbs of kangfeidian No.1,2,3.	Western medicine	21 d	No	Mortality, lung infiltrate absorption, symptom improvement, dose of glucocorticoid, length of fever

Table 2 Results of meta-analysis of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine for SARS at the end of treatment

Comparison or outcomes	Study	Participants			Statistical method	Effect estimate
		Total	Trial	Control
National drugs No.2.3.4 combined with Western medicine versus Western medicine
Mortality	Wang RB 2003	65	1/35	2/30	RR (fixed) 95%	0.41 (0.04, 4.78)
Lung infiltrate absorption		53	25/30	11/23		5.45 (1.54, 19.26)
The secondary infection		65	4/35	7/30		0.42 (0.11, 1.62)
Compound formulas No.1 combined with Western medicine versus Western medicine
Symptom improvement integral	Jiang ZY 2003	40	7.90 (5.81)	6.50 (3.83)	WMD (fixed) 95%	1.40 (-1.65, 4.45)
Lung infiltrate absorption		40	0.65 (0.35)	0.38 (0.37)		0.24 (0.02, 0.46)
Quality of life integral		40	19.93 (3.69)	22.10 (4.90)		-2.17 (-4.86, 0.52)
Compound formulas combined with Western medicine versus Western medicine
Lung infiltrate absorption	Wang BN 2003	59	30/30	26/29	RR (fixed) 95%	8.06 (0.40, 163.21)
Kangfeidian No.4 combined with Western medicine versus Western medicine
Loss of dyspnea	Zhang SN 2003	38	12/20	9/18	RR (fixed) 95%	1.50 (0.41, 5.43)
Loss of cough		30	9/16	7/14		1.29 (0.30, 5.43)

Table 3 Effect of Kangfeidian No.1,2, 3 with Western medicine in SARS patients

Outcome measure	Kangfeidian No.1, 2, 3 combined with Western medicine	Western medicine alone	Relative risk (95%CI)	P	Reference
Mortality	(n/N)
	4/31	4/32	1.04 (0.24, 4.57)		Zhang XM et al
	0/37	1/39	0.34 (0.01, 8.67)		(2003)
Overall	4/68	5/71	0.86 (0.22, 3.29)	0.82
Lung infiltrate	27/31	18/32	5.25 (1.49, 18.53)		Zhao CH et al
Absorbing	22/37	6/39	8.07 (2.71, 23.98)		(2003)
Overall	49/68	24/71	6.68 (2.93, 15.24)	<0.00001	Zhao CH et al
The average	N (mean ± SD)		WMD(95%CI)		(2003)
Dosage of
Glucocrticosteroids	31 (304.13 ± 143.42)	32 (347.40 ± 173.10)	-43.2 7(-121.67, 35.13)		Zhang XM et al
	15 (1400.00 ± 685.00)	20 (1325.00 ± 623.00)	75.00 (-366.27, 516.27)		(2003)
					Zhao CH et al
					(2003)
Overall	46	52	-39.65 (-116.84, 37.54)	0.31