Traditional Chinese medicine–based integrated health interventions for depression: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Background Some traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)–based integrated health interventions have been used for depression, but pooled efficacy remains unknown. Aims and Objectives This study aimed to systematically evaluate the efficacy of TCM‐based integrated health interventions for relieving depression. Design Systematic review and meta‐analysis. Methods A comprehensive literature search was conducted on 17 databases from inception up to June 2022. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that examined an integrated health intervention based on TCM theory for depression were included. The risk of bias was assessed using the second version of the Cochrane risk‐of‐bias tool for randomised trials, and the quality of evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation system. Results Eighteen RCTs with a total of 1448 depressed participants were included. Health care providers, mainly nurses (14 studies), implemented TCM‐based integrated health interventions. The pooled results showed that TCM‐based integrated health interventions had larger effects on reducing depressive symptoms (15 studies; standardised mean difference = −2.05; 95% CI: −2.74, −1.37; p