Yizhi decoction as a therapy for vascular dementia: A meta-analysis

Purpose: Vascular dementia (VD) constitutes a heavy burden in health care systems in ageing societies. This review was aimed at assessing the effectiveness of Yizhi decoction against VD. Methods: Five computerized databases were searched. A total of 262 publications were retrieved. Jadad evaluation was used to analyze the quality of the literature. Random methods, random allocation concealment and blinding, withdrawal, exiting and other aspects were included. RevMan 5.3 was used for meta-analysis. Results: There were 1045 patients, consisting of 527 cases in the treatment group (Yizhi decoction group) and 518 cases in the control group. Risk ratio revealed that Yizhi decoction was significantly effective against VD, while the weighted by mean difference demonstrated that Yizhi decoction improved the MMSE score of patients. Conclusion: Yizhi decoction improves the quality of daily life and mental state in VD patients. However, more rigorous and scientific case studies are still needed for further confirmation to strengthen and support these findings.