Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Activity in Switzerland. A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Importance Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) becomes popular in Switzerland, however, Swiss TCM research activity and scientific output have not been investigated. Objective To describe the Swiss TCM research activities and main health conditions studied. Data Source A systematic literature search of PubMed and Embase was performed from database inception to December 31st, 2023. Study Selection Articles describing a TCM-related therapy modality in humans with at least one author affiliated with a Swiss institution. Data Extraction Primary and secondary outcomes, as well as study and author characteristics were extracted from included articles. Main Outcomes and Measures The main outcome was the main health condition studied. Secondary outcomes are the total number of articles published over time, the TCM therapies used, and the Swiss institutions involved. Results Of the 223 articles included, 68.2% of published articles originated from the top 3 of 73 (4.1%) Swiss institutions, namely the University of Zurich (32.3%), University of Bern (30.0%) and University of Basel (7.6%). Overall, 116 (52.0%) articles described original studies including 36 (31.0%) articles reporting findings from randomized clinical trials, 29 (25.0%) from cross-sectional studies, 20 (17.2%) from prospective cohort studies, 19 (16.4%) from case reports and 12 (10.3%) from retrospective studies. The top health categories studied were Pain Management (16.4%), Psychology and Behaviour (8.6%), Neurology (6.9%), and Oncology (6.9%). The most used TCM therapies were acupuncture or moxibustion (61.2%), combination of several treatments (15.5%), herbal medicine (10.3%), and Qi Gong or martial arts (9.5%). Conclusion and Relevance Until 2023, the total number of scientific TCM output by Swiss authors is steadily increasing but remains small. More effort to conducted TCM research and to elucidate the TCM therapy effects in Switzerland is warranted.