Herbal medicine (Gan Mai Da Zao decoction) for depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Highlights • Gan Mai Da Zao (GMDZ) decoction is one of the most famous Chinese herbal medicine for depression. • One recent systematic review of GMDZ decoction suggested that GMDZ might be beneficial as anti-depressants. However, this review analysis inappropriate and the information was not complete. • Thirteen RCTs met our inclusion criteria. All of the included RCTs had a high risk of bias across their domains. • Our systematic review and meta-analysis failed to provide suggestive evidence of the superiority of GMDZ decoction over anti-depressant therapies for major depression, post-surgical depression, and elderly depression except stroke depression.