Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39917276›Full record

ArticleTherapeutic advances in chronic disease2025

Methodological insights into intervention and outcomes in randomised controlled trials of herbal medicine for obesity: a scoping review.

Janice Sue Wen Chan, Mei Siu Lau, Siti Hajar Muhamad Rosli, Siti Khadijah Mustapha Kamal, Wan Nurul Nadia Wan Seman, Nurul Hidayah Ali, Terence Yew Chin Tan, Ida Farah Ahmad, Puspawathy Krishnan, Marisa Khatijah Borhan and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Therapeutic advances in chronic disease, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Janice Sue Wen ChanHerbal Medicine Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Shah Alam 40170, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4954-8950
Mei Siu LauInstitute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5890-2099
Siti Hajar Muhamad RosliInstitute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3805-8905
Siti Khadijah Mustapha KamalInstitute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7586-0185
Wan Nurul Nadia Wan SemanInstitute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4025-0289
Nurul Hidayah AliInstitute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0159-9762
Terence Yew Chin TanInstitute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7178-7435
Ida Farah AhmadInstitute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3132-9266
Puspawathy KrishnanInstitute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3812-9673
Marisa Khatijah BorhanMedical Department, Hospital Sungai Buloh, Jalan Hospital, Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4053-0930
Ami Fazlin Syed MohamedInstitute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2747-951X
Xin Yi LimInstitute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2615-3166

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: With rising obesity rates worldwide, clinical trials focused on identifying effective treatments are increasing. While guidelines exist for pharmaceutical drugs targeting obesity, there are none for herbal medicine clinical trials for anti-obesity. Both industries refer to the same guidelines for clinical trials. Objectives: This scoping review aimed to gather information from herbal medicine anti-obesity randomised controlled trials (RCTs), analyse the methodologies and assess their alignment with international guidelines. Eligibility criteria: This review included RCTs of participants of all ages with obesity utilising herbal medicine with any comparators and focusing on various outcome measures.Sources of evidence: Only published journal articles were included. Charting methods: Articles were extracted from MEDLINE, CENTRAL and EMBASE using predetermined keywords. Relevant data, such as the study characteristics, types of herbal interventions and controls, treatment durations, outcome measures and safety monitoring methods were recorded in a table format for comparative analysis. Results: We included 99 RCTs that showed participant sample sizes ranging from 8 to 182, ages 18 to 80 years and body mass indexes (BMIs) between 25 and 49.9 kg/m Conclusion: In conclusion, almost 50% of the studies adhered to international pharmaceutical clinical trial guidelines, addressing dietary, lifestyle, physical activity and cardiovascular risk factors. Nonetheless, more herbal anti-obesity studies need to consider the assessment of weight maintenance.

Indexed as

herbal medicinemethodologyobesityoverweightscoping review

Identifiers

PMID39917276
PMCPMC11795625

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.