Abstract
BACKGROUND: Assessing the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture therapy for treating patients with COVID-19 is the main purpose of this systematic review protocol. METHODS: The following electronic databases will be searched from inception to May 2020: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Wan-Fang Database, and Chinese Scientific Journal Database. All published randomized controlled trials in English or Chinese related to acupuncture for COVID-19 will be included. Primary outcomes are timing of the disappearance of the main symptoms (including fever, asthenia, cough disappearance rate, and temperature recovery time), and serum cytokine levels. Secondary outcomes are timing of the disappearance of accompanying symptoms (such as myalgia, expectoration, stuffiness, runny nose, pharyngalgia, anhelation, chest distress, dyspnea, crackles, headache, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea), negative COVID-19 results rates on two consecutive occasions (not on the same day), CT image improvement, average hospitalization time, occurrence rate of common type to severe form, clinical cure rate, and mortality. RESULTS: The results will provide a high-quality synthesis of current evidence for researchers in this subject area. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of our study will provide an evidence to judge whether acupuncture is an effective intervention for patients suffered from COVID-19. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Formal ethical approval is not necessary as the data cannot be individualized. The results of this protocol will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal or presented at relevant conferences. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020183736.