Meta-analysis On The Efficacy Of NB-UVB For Vitiligo

Objective: The purpose of this review was to compare the effectiveness and safety of narrowband UVB for the treatment of vitiligo.Methods: We systematically searched key relevant electronic databases bibliographies of relevant papers, and abstracts of relevant subspecialty meetings until March 2009. We alse searched the references in the published papers . The quality of included trials was assessed by adequacy of allocation sequence generation , allocation concealment ,blinding ,and follow-up. All the published outcome measures were used to conduct fixed- and random-effects models meta-analyses, with exploration of heterogeneity and use of sensitivity and subgroup analysis where required.Results: 5 RCTs were included. The methodological quality was generally low. Results of Meta-analysis showed that the therapy of vitiligo with NB-UVB had better efficacy in comparison to routine therapy or PUVA (OR:4.46 ; 95%CI [2.61 ,7.62];P=0.00001), and there are higher cure rate (OR:2.15, 95%CI [1.36, 3.40], P=0.001)and improvement rate (OR:1.63, 95%CI [1.15 ,2.30], P=0.006).No serious adverse events reported. Conclusions: The meta-analysis of nonsurgical therapeutic modalities has indicated that NB-UVB performed better in comparison to routine therapy or PUVA. There are higher cure rate and improvement rate. No serious adverse events reported. Further well-designed clinical trials should be performed to come to the affirmative conclusion due to the low methodological quality of the included trials.