Previously submitted to: JMIR Research Protocols (no longer under consideration since Jan 12, 2026)
Date Submitted: May 20, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Effectiveness and safety of golden plaster for knee osteoarthritis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
As society ages, the prevalence of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is rising, becoming a public health issue that significantly impacts the quality of life for middle-aged and elderly patients. Although golden plaster (GP) and its combined therapies are widely used in the clinical practice of orthopedics and traumatology in traditional Chinese medicine, the existing research has not yet systematically summarized the clinical efficacy of GP in the intervention of KOA.
Objective:
This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of GP treatment of KOA through a systematic review and meta-analysis of relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
Methods:
This study will systematically search PubMed, Cochrane library, web of science, EMBASE, google scholar, Chinese Clinical Trials Registry, VIP Chinese scientific journals database (CSTJ), China biomedical literature service system (SinoMed), Wanfang data knowledge service platform (Wan-fang), and China national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI) to identify RCTs investigating GP for KOA intervention, published up to December 2025, that meet predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Statistical analysis will be performed using Review Manager 5.4.1 software provided by the Cochrane Collaboration. Subgroup analysis, meta-regression analysis, sensitivity analysis, and risk of bias assessment will be further conducted.
Results:
This systematic review and meta-analysis may confirm the efficacy and safety of GP in the treatment of KOA.
Conclusions:
This systematic review will provide compelling evidence for evaluating the efficacy and safety of GP to offer more choices for both clinicians and patients during the treatment process of KOA. Clinical Trial: PROSPERO registration number: CRD420251025986
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