Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Long COVID: Scoping Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Prolonged symptoms after the clearance of acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, termed long COVID, are an emerging threat to the post-COVID-19 era. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) interventions may play a significant role in the management of long COVID. The present study aimed to identify published studies on the use of CAM interventions for long COVID and provide an overview of the research status using bibliometric analysis. The present scoping review searched MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Library from inception until November 2021 and identified published studies on CAM interventions for long COVID. A narrative analysis of the study types and effectiveness and safety of the CAM interventions are presented and a bibliometric analysis of citation information and references of the included publications were analyzed using the Bibliometrix package for R. An electronic database search identified 16 publications (2 clinical studies and 14 study protocols of systematic reviews or clinical studies) that were included in the present study. Dyspnea or pulmonary dysfunction, quality of life, olfactory dysfunction, and psychological symptoms after COVID-19 infection were assessed in the included publications. The two clinical studies suggested that Chinese herbal medications were effective in relieving symptoms of pulmonary dysfunction. Bibliometric analysis revealed the current trend of research publication in this area was driven by study protocols written by Chinese, Korean, and Indian authors. Thus, the present scoping review and bibliometric analysis revealed that there are few studies published about the use of CAM for long COVID and long-term management for COVID-19 survivors. Original studies on CAM interventions, including randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews, are required to actively support evidence for their use in the management of long COVID. PROSPERO registration: this trial is registered with CRD42021281526.