Abdominal massage for chronic constipation in the elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol.

"Competing interests: None declared."

"Funding: This work was supported by the Program of Sichuan Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (grant numbers 2021MS075 and 2023MS534) and the Project of the Key Research Base for Humanities and Social Sciences in the Universities of Sichuan Province-the Coordinated Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture in Sichuan Province (grant number 2023XT105)."

"This systematic review protocol is registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (registration number: CRD42023408629). The reporting of this protocol adheres to the guidelines outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA-P) statement. The review will be reported in accordance with the PRISMA-P guidelines. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42023408629."