Auricular acupuncture for breast cancer-related depression: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Breast cancer is a common disease in galactophore department. Patients with breast cancer are prone to depression, with the incidence of depression ranging from 13% to 23% and as high as 70% in patients with advanced stage. On the one hand, it is related to the physiological characteristics, personality characteristics, and social factors of women themselves. On the other hand, it is related to the common tumors of women, such as breast cancer, examination, and antitumor treatment. Due to the serious side effects of chemotherapy drugs, patients can always feel the presence of cancer. In addition, the mark of radiotherapy and fatigue make the psychological burden continue to have excessive economic burden, and lack of understanding from both social and family, discrimination and patients' own psychological endurance are all causes of breast cancer factors contributing to depressive symptoms in patients. Auricular acupuncture as a form of acupuncture therapy which is proved to be effective in RCTs and very suitable for patients, has been used in patients who suffer from breast cancer-related depression for a long time, therefore, a systematic review is necessary to provide available evidence for further study. Methods: The following databases will be searched from their inception to August 2020: Electronic database includes PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Nature, Science online, VIP medicine information, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Primary outcomes: Score of depression symptoms. Additional outcomes: The overall effective rate. Data will be extracted by 2 researchers independently, risk of bias of the meta-analysis will be evaluated based on the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. All data analysis will be conducted by data statistics software Review Manager V.5.3. and Stata V.12.0. Results: The results of this study will systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of auricular acupuncture intervention for people with breast cancer-related depression. Conclusion: The systematic review of this study will summarize the current published evidence of auricular acupuncture for the treatment of breast cancer-related depression, which can further guide the promotion and application of it. Open Science Fra network (OSF) registration number: September 11, 2020 osf.io/5b7yw. (https://osf.io/5b7yw)