ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Qianggu capsule and calcium drugs for osteoporosis and to provide reference to choose drug for patients with osteoporosis in clinic. Methods Databases including PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP and SinoMed were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Qianggu capsule and calcium supplements for osteoporosis from inception to the 31th of January 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and evaluated the risk of bias of included studies. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2 software. Results A total of 8 RCTs were included, which involved 594 patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that the effective rate of the Qianggu capsule group was significantly superior to that of the calcium group [RR (95％ CI) was 1.14 (1.06-1.24)]. The bone mineral density (BMD) at lumbar vertebra and femoral intertrochanter of the Qianggu capsule group were statistically higher than those of the calcium group after three months'treatment [MD (95％ CI):0.10 (0.08-0.12), 0.09 (0.06-0.12)]. The bone mineral density (BMD) at lumbar vertebra, femoral neck, ward triangle and femoral intertrochanter of the Qianggu capsule group were statistically higher than those of the calcium group after six months' treatment [SMD (95％ CI): 0.26 (0.03-0.49), 0.56 (0.32-0.80), 0.64 (0.38-0.91); MD (95％ CI): 0.03 (0.02-0.04)]. The incidence of adverse events of the Qianggu capsule group was statistically higher than that of the calcium group [OR (95％ CI) was 2.03 (1.08-3.82)]. Conclusions Comparing to the calcium related drugs, the Qianggu capsule showed a better effect, and could effectively increase the bone mineral density, but the adverse events should be surveillanced.