Mental health benefits of traditional Chinese medicine – An umbrella review of meta-analyses

Mental health problems can be physically, emotionally and economically demanding, impacting patients, families, friends and society. Complementary techniques can help open up new possibilities for improving mental health worldwide. The aim of this study is to analyse the current evidence on the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for mental health and to inform potential applications within western healthcare settings. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Science Direct and Scielo databases to identify studies on TCM techniques for mental health. Meta-analyses on human subjects were included. Studies that examined mental health in other diseases were also included. Studies of low or moderate quality were excluded. Our literature search yielded 319 studies, 265 after removal of duplicates. After title and abstract screening, 40 studies were selected for retrieval. Full-text and quality assessment was performed on 38 studies, and 32 studies were included in the final analysis. The introduction of TCM into the health care system may have a positive impact on the treatment of certain mental illnesses and improve the quality of life of patients suffering from other diseases. TCM may also be useful for populations that do not have access to or receive conventional therapies. More studies are needed, and methodological quality needs to be improved. The protocol has been registered with the International Prospective Registry for Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO CRD42021276118).