Table 2.
The general characteristics of the 30 trials.
| Study | Sample size (T/C) | Age (mean or range) T/C | Diagnostic criteria/classification [19–23] | Intervention | Duration of use (months) | Adverse reactions | Main outcome | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T | C | T | C | ||||||
| Yang et al. [24] | 32/30 | 20–40 | Guiding principles for clinical research of new Chinese medicine | ShengFa Lotion (5 ml, qod, local) |
Placebo (5 ml, qod local) | 12 | 3 | 3 | ① |
| Chien et al. [25] | 20/20 | 39.85 ± 8.77/35.30 ± 7.19 | Hamilton–Norwood | BeauTop (2.4 g, bid, po) | Placebo (2.4 g, bid, po) | 6 | 0 | 0 | ① |
| Liang et al. [26] | 45/48 | 21.3 ± 1.58/21.1 ± 1.04 | Clinical dermatology | YuFaYe Lotion (4 ml, bid, local) |
Placebo (4 ml, bid, local) | 4 | 0 | 0 | ① |
| Yang [27] | 40/40 | 28.4 ± 6.2/28.7 ± 6.0 | Hamilton–Norwood (II-VI) | YiRen QuShi Decoction (1 dose, qd, po) |
Finasteride (1 mg, qd, po) | 3 | 0 | 4 | ①②③④ |
| Wu et al. [28] | 84/74 | 29.34 ± 7.13/28.41 ± 6.64 | Clinical dermatology | TuoFaFang Decoction (150 ml, bid, po) |
Finasteride (1 mg, qd, po) | 3 | NR | NR | ① |
| Dai [29] | 67/44 | 20–45 | Clinical dermatology Hamilton–Norwood (II-VI) |
QuShi ShengFaFang Decoction (1 dose, qd, po) |
Finasteride (1 mg, qd, po) | 3 | 0 | 0 | ①②③④ |
| Wu et al. [30] | 58/36 | 27.8 ± 5.9/28.47 ± 5.13 | Clinical dermatology Hamilton–Norwood (II-VI) |
QuShi ShengFa Decoction (1 dose, qd, po) |
Finasteride (1 mg, qd, po) | 6 | 0 | 0 | ①⑤ |
| Sui [31] | 46/46 | 26.43 ± 7.01/26.54 ± 6.62 | Clinical dermatology | QuZhi GuTuoYin Decoction (200 ml, bid, po) |
Finasteride (1 mg, qd, po) | 3 | NR | NR | ① |
| Wang et al. [32] | 40/40 | 27.32 ± 6.06/27.14 ± 5.58 | Clinical diagnosis and treatment of TCM dermatology | QuShi JianFaYin Decoction (200 ml, bid, po) |
Finasteride (1 mg, qd, po) | 6 | NR | NR | ① |
| Li et al. [33] | 112/73 | 26.42 ± 5.63/25.87 ± 6.12 | Chinese guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of androgenetic alopecia | ShengFa Pill Decoction (1 dose, qd, po) |
Finasteride (1 mg, qd, po) | 6 | 3 | 0 | ① |
| Wang and Zhang [34] | 43/43 | 29.7 ± 8.5/28.6 ± 8.3 | Etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of androgenetic alopecia | QuZhi ShengFaYin Decoction (150 ml, bid, po) Finasteride (1 mg, qd, po) |
Finasteride (1 mg, qd, po) | 6 | NR | NR | ①②③④⑥ |
| He and Liang [35] | 51/49 | 29.54 ± 5.79/29.92 ± 6.43 | Hamilton (II–V) | DiHuang ShengFaLing Decoction (5 g, bid, po) | 2%–5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) | 9 | 0 | 2 | ① |
| Mo [36] | 35/33 | 18–50 | Clinical dermatology | QuZhi ShengFa Lotion (50 ml, qid, local) | 5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) | 6 | 0 | 0 | ①②③④ |
| Zhang [37] | 42/42 | 20–32 | Clinical dermatology | JiaWei ErZhiWan Decoction (150 ml, bid, po) 5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) |
5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) | 6 | NR | NR | ①⑥ |
| Liu and sun [38] | 50/50 | 28.35 ± 4.52/28.23 ± 4.35 | Clinical dermatology Hamilton (II–V) |
YiShen ShengFaTang Decoction (150 ml, bid, po) 5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) |
5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) | 3 | 1 | 1 | ① |
| Bao et al. [39] | 29/28 | 27.96 ± 10.5/29.18 ± 9.787 | MAGA (I-III) Ludwig (I-III) |
Gao Fang Decoction (20 ml, bid, po) 5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) |
5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) | 4 | NR | NR | ① |
| Wang [40] | 30/28 | 35.27 ± 5.74/35.57 ± 5.98 | Clinical dermatology Hamilton–Norwood (II-VI) |
BuShen ZiYing Fang Decoction (1 dose, qd, po) Finasteride (1 mg, qd, po) 5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) |
Finasteride (1 mg, qd, po) 5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) |
6 | 0 | 0 | ①②③④ |
| Xiang [41] | 40/40 | 18–50 | Hamilton–Norwood (II-VI) | ZhaQu PinWeiSan He Er ZhiWan Decoction (150 ml, tid, po) 5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) |
Finasteride (1 mg, qd, po) 5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) |
9 | 2 | 4 | ①⑤ |
| Xiang [42] | 35/28 | 28.3 ± 6.7/30.5 ± 5.3 | Clinical dermatology, Norwood-Ludwig | Tanshinone Capsule (2#, tid, po) | VitaminB2 (5 mg, tid, po) Vitamin B6 (10 mg, tid, po) |
3 | 0 | 0 | ①⑤ |
| Lin [43] | 43/43 | 59.44 ± 2.57/58.16 ± 2.98 | Clinical dermatology | Qibao beards folk prescription Decoction (200 ml, bid, po) |
VitaminB6 (10 mg, tid, po) Cystine (50 mg, tid, po) |
4 | NR | NR | ①②③④ |
| Gong [44] | 46/46 | 20–48 | Integrated Chinese and western medicine dermatology | JiaWei HuangLian EJiao Decoction (200 ml, bid, po) | VitaminB6 (10 mg, tid, po) Cystine (50 mg, tid, po) |
3 | NR | NR | ① |
| Xi et al. [45] | 45/35 | 30.1 ± 12.8/29.7 ± 11.6 | Clinical dermatology | GuShen ShengFaTang Decoction (150 ml, bid, po) | VitaminB6 (10 mg, tid, po) Cystine (50 mg, tid, po) |
3 | 0 | 0 | ① |
| Xia and Liu [46] | 30/30 | 25–51 | Clinical dermatology | ZiNi ZiShen YangXue ShengFaTang Decoction (300 ml, bid, po) 5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) |
VitaminB6 (10 mg, tid, po) Cystine (50 mg, tid, po) 5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) |
6 | NR | NR | ① |
| Ye and Qi [47] | 25/25 | 17–50 | Clinical diagnosis and treatment of TCM dermatology | YangXue ShengFa HeJi Decoction (30 ml, tid, po) |
VitaminB6 (10 mg, tid, po) Cystine (50 mg, tid, po) |
3 | NR | NR | ① |
| Xi et al. [48] | 36/30 | 29.3 ± 4.7/29.6 ± 4.2 | Hamilton (II-IV) | QuZhi ShengFa Pill (9 g, tid, po) |
VitaminB6 (10 mg, tid, po) Cystine (50 mg, tid, po) |
3 | NR | NR | ① |
| Wang et al. [49] | 83/45 | 26/29 | Clinical diagnosis and treatment of TCM dermatology | Fukang mixture Decoction (20 ml, tid, po) |
VitaminB6 (20 mg, tid, po) Cystine (10 mg, tid, po) |
4 | 2 | 0 | ① |
| Fang [50] | 36/36 | 30.62 ± 10.04/29.94 ± 9.46 | Clinical dermatology | ShengFa Decoction (20 ml, tid, po) 5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) |
VitaminB6 (10 mg, tid, po) Cystine (50 mg, tid, po) 5% minoxidil (1 ml, bid, local) |
6 | 1 | 2 | ①②④⑤ |
| Xie [51] | 33/32 | 45.5 ± 1.2/45.6 ± 1.4 | Guiding principles for clinical research of new Chinese medicine | JianWei YiShen, QuShi ShengFa Decoction (bid, po) |
21-Super-Vita (0.7 g, tid, po) Cystine (100 mg, tid, po) 2%KCZ (biw) |
3 | 3 | 8 | ① |
| Liu [52] | 60/60 | 42 ± 7.9/42 ± 7.8 | Integrated Chinese and western medicine dermatology | Quzhi Fangtuo shengfa ying Decoction (100 ml, biw, local) |
21-Super-Vita (0.7 g, tid, po) Cystine (100 mg, tid, po) 2%KCZ (biw) |
3 | NR | NR | ① |
| Xu et al. [53] | 47/48 | 32.15 ± 4.62/31.21 ± 4.16 | Clinical dermatology | ShengFa Ting Decoction (biw, local) Selenium sulfide (biw) |
Selenium sulfide (biw) | 3 | 0 | 0 | ① |
T: experimental group; C: control group; KCZ: ketoconazole; NR: no record; ①: total efficacy rate; ②: itchy scalp level; ③: greasy scalp level; ④: dandruff level; ⑤: total symptom score; and ⑥: microelement level.