ReviewF1000Research2025
Chinese Medicine as First-Line Treatment for Subthreshold Mental Disorders in Primary Care: Opportunities and Challenges.
Review in F1000Research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Subthreshold mental disorders (SMDs), characterized by clusters of psychiatric symptoms that do not meet the criteria for a formal diagnosis yet are sufficiently severe to impair daily functioning. SMDs exhibit a high prevalence and an elevated risk of progression to diagnosed disorders and impose a substantial socioeconomic burden. Despite their significant impact, SMDs often go overlooked and untreated due to a global shortage of mental health professionals and stigmatization associated with conventional psychological and psychiatric treatments. This perspective advocates the integration of Chinese medicine (CM) as a first-line treatment for SMDs, focusing specifically on primary care settings in regions with established CM infrastructure and high public acceptance. Emerging evidence has shown that CM treatments, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, and other modalities, can be effective in managing various mental disorders. Systematic reviews have shown that herbal medicine not only has fewer side effects compared to psychotropic medications but also reduces adverse effects when used as adjunctive therapy. The potential benefits of using CM include mitigating the shortage of mental health professionals by supplementing primary care, preventing the exacerbation of SMDs, and offering a less stigmatized, cost-effective option that could improve help-seeking behaviors. However, challenges such as lack of recognition, insufficient collaboration between CM and mental health specialists, and differing theoretical frameworks hinder its integration into primary care in the mental health care field. Addressing these challenges will require public education, robust research evidence, policy changes, and the development of collaborative frameworks. This study highlights the need for greater recognition and integration of CM as a viable first-line treatment for the management of SMDs within primary care settings.
Indexed as
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
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.