BACKGROUND
Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a common disease in women. SUI affects patients' quality of life and causes depression and emotional disorders, which brings a negative influence on their physical and mental health. The participants in the studies included women with mild to moderate stress incontinence because there are more female patients than male patients and more patients with severe stress incontinence are treated surgically. Moreover, after retrieval, there is no systematic review and network meta-analysis of conservative treatment like electroacupuncture in women with mild to moderate SUI. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of electroacupuncture on women with mild to moderate SUI using systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA).
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to investigate the efficacy of electroacupuncture on women with mild to moderate SUI using systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA).
METHODS
Randomized clinical trials related to conservative treatments of SUI will be searched in five English and three Chinese literature databases: EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Clinical Trials.gov, CNKI, Wanfang, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, and these 8 electronic databases will be searched from 2002 to 2022. The PROSPERO database and the INPLASY database will also be searched. Two reviewers will independently complete the research selection. After screening the studies, two other researchers will extract the data, and the quality of the included studies will be evaluated according to the quality standards specified in Cochrane Collaboration's tool Version 2. The primary outcomes will be the change in urine leakage determined by a 1-hour pad test and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form (ICIQ-SF) score from baseline to the conclusion of the follow-up. Secondary outcomes will be the 72-hour incontinence episodes, residual bladder volume, effective rate, urodynamic indexes, and other reported measurements. And the STATA 14.0 software and the Review Manager V.5.3. will be implemented for data synthesis and meta-analysis.
RESULTS
This study will thoroughly and expertly evaluate and compare the clinical efficacy of EA with other conservative therapies for SUI.
CONCLUSIONS
The conclusions of this systematic review will be used as evidence to judge whether electroacupuncture can effectively intervene in women with mild to moderate SUI and provide references for clinicians and guideline makers to choose treatments for SUI.
CLINICALTRIAL
Protocol registration number: INPLASY202320098