Effect of Moxibustion Combined with Other Interventions on Body Weight Reduction in the Treatment of Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Moxibustion has been used in the treatment and prevention of obesity. However, there has been no systematic review or meta-analysis conducted on the use of moxibustion on obesity treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the role of moxibustion in the treatment of obesity. Methods: The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, and MEDLINE/PubMed databases were searched to identify all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the effect of moxibustion on obesity. The primary outcome was body weight. The secondary outcomes were the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). The risk of bias assessment and meta-analysis were conducted using the Cochrane Collaboration tool. Results: Eleven RCTs involving 761 participants were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Other interventions that were included in the analyses were manual acupuncture, electroacupuncture, embedding therapy, herbal medicine, and diet control. Moxibustion combined with other interventions resulted in a significant improvement in body weight reduction (mean difference [MD] -3.32, 95% confidence interval [CI: -4.25 to -2.38]; I² = 17%), BMI (MD -1.51, 95% CI [-1.88 to -1.14]; I² = 76%), and WC (MD -2.82, 95% CI [-3.50 to -2.13]; I² = 75%), but did not improve HC (MD -2.05, 95% CI [-4.21 to 0.11]; I² = 0%) or WHR (MD -0.01, 95% CI [-0.03 to 0.01]; I² = 57%). Conclusions: Moxibustion can be used with other interventions to improve body weight, BMI, and WC in people with obesity. However, the conclusions of this review should be cautiously applied to clinical practice because most of the included studies had a high or unclear risk of bias.