Traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine evidence map: a methodology to an overflowing field of data and noise

• Published in: Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública
• Main Authors: Mariana Cabral Schveitzer, Carmen Verônica Mendes Abdala, Caio Fabio Schlechta Portella, Ricardo Ghelman
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2021
• Subjects: systematic review; complementary therapies; integrative medicine; coronavirus infections; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2021.48; https://doaj.org/article/d7f4a51d40a44302b100b9756f1f5bc1

Every day there is criticism about lack of evidence on traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM). But is this narrative evidence-based? Are we really missing research about TCIM? Or are we just not looking correctly at the evidence? Evidence maps are a useful method with the dual function of synthesizing available evidence on a specific topic and identifying knowledge gaps. This article presents a six-step evidence map methodology along with recently published TCIM evidence maps, including one related to COVID-19. TCIM evidence maps are useful instruments to inform decision-making for policymakers, health practitioners, and patients.