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Review
. 2018 May-Jun;136(3):251-261.
doi: 10.1590/1516-3180.2018.0172170418. Epub 2018 Jun 25.

What do Cochrane systematic reviews say about new practices on integrative medicine?

Rachel Riera  1 , Vinícius Lopes Braga  2 , Luana Pompeu Dos Santos Rocha  2 , Daniel Damasceno Bernardo  2 , Luísa Avelar Fernandes de Andrade  2 , Jessica Chiu Hsu  2 , Luciana Di Giovanni Marques da Silva  2 , Rodrigo Cesar de Sá Suetsugu  2 , Nicole Hosni Dittrich  2 , Lucas Riguete Pereira de Lima  2 , Vicente Penido da Silveira  2 , Barbara Caon Kruglensky  2 , Letícia de Freitas Leonel  2 , Edivando de Moura Barros  2 , Anderson Adriano Leal Freitas da Costa  2 , Miguel Lins Quintella  2 , Rafael Leite Pacheco  3 , Carolina de Oliveira Cruz  4 , Ana Luiza Cabrera Martimbianco  5 , Daniela Vianna Pachito  6 , Vania Mozetic  7 , Tatiana de Bruyn Ferraz Teixeira  8 , Maria Regina Torloni  9 , Alvaro Nagib Atallah  10
Affiliations
Review

What do Cochrane systematic reviews say about new practices on integrative medicine?

Rachel Riera et al. Sao Paulo Med J. 2018 May-Jun.

Abstract

Background: This study identified and summarized all Cochrane systematic reviews (SRs) on the effects of ten integrative practices that were recently added to the Brazilian public healthcare system (SUS).

Design and setting: Review of systematic reviews, conducted in the Discipline of Evidence-Based Medicine, Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM), Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp).

Methods: Review of Cochrane SRs on the following interventions were identified, summarized and critically assessed: apitherapy, aromatherapy, bioenergetics, family constellation, flower therapy, chromotherapy, geotherapy, hypnotherapy, hand imposition or ozone therapy.

Results: We included a total of 16 SRs: 4 on apitherapy, 4 on aromatherapy, 6 on hypnotherapy and 2 on ozone therapy. No Cochrane SR was found regarding bioenergetics, family constellation, chromotherapy, clay therapy, flower therapy or hand imposition. The only high-quality evidence was in relation to the potential benefit of apitherapy, specifically regarding some benefits from honey dressings for partial healing of burn wounds, for reduction of coughing among children with acute coughs and for preventing allergic reactions to insect stings.

Conclusion: Except for some specific uses of apitherapy (honey for burn wounds and for acute coughs and bee venom for allergic reactions to insect stings), the use of ten integrative practices that have recently been incorporated into SUS does not seem to be supported by evidence from Cochrane SRs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None

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References

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