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Review
. 2022 Jan 31:2022:8606693.
doi: 10.1155/2022/8606693. eCollection 2022.

The Effects of Chewing Gum on Reducing Anxiety and Stress: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Jing Luo  1 , Mengjie Xia  2 , Chen Zhang  1
Affiliations
Review

The Effects of Chewing Gum on Reducing Anxiety and Stress: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Jing Luo et al. J Healthc Eng. .

Retraction in

Abstract

There was currently no consensus on whether chewing gum should be widely instituted as a means to help reduce anxiety and stress. Chewing gum was also not included in guidelines for alleviating anxiety and stress. The purpose of this study was of two aspects: (1) to review the research progress of the relationship between gum chewing and anxiety and stress in recent years and (2) to make a meta-analysis of the effects of mastication on anxiety and stress. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies extracted from PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Embase to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of chewing gum on anxiety, and stress was evaluated through screening, inclusion, data extraction, and quality assessment. The meta-analysis we performed was using Review Manager 5.3 software. We included a total of 8 RCTs, involving more than 400 adults over 18 years old. Compared with no chewing gum, chewing gum resulted in anxiety (MD = -0.26, 95% CI (-0.48, -0.04), p=0.02, I 2 = 11%), where the heterogeneity was low and statistically significant. While in stress (MD = -0.27, 95% CI (-0.79, -0.25), p=0.31, I 2 = 48%), the heterogeneity was high, and there was of no statistical significance. Based on current evidence, chewing gum is an inexpensive, well-tolerated, safe, and effective way to relieve anxiety and stress. To confirm the conclusion, we still need to conduct more randomized trials.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Risk of bias summary.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The flowchart for the search of articles.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Anxiety forest plot.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Anxiety timing forest plot.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Anxiety scale forest plot.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Anxiety sample forest plot.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Stress forest plot.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Stress timing forest plot.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Stress sample forest plot.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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