Table 1 Items used in this study for systematic evaluation
Items | Corresponding items in guidelines | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Categories | Descriptions | STRICTA | TIDieR | |
I. Type of sham needle | 1a | Type of sham needle. (e.g., Streitberger needle, Park needle, Takakura needle, cocktail picks) | 1a | 1 |
1b | Rationale for using the chosen sham needle | 1b, 6a | 2 | |
II. Details of sham needle | 2a | Number of sham needling per subject per session | 2a | 8 |
2b | Are the depths of insertion reported? | 6 g | ||
2c | Response sought (e.g., de qi or muscle twitch response) | 2d | 6 | |
2d | Sham needle stimulation | 2e | 6 | |
2e | Sham needle retention | 2f | 6 | |
2f | Details of other interventions administered in addition to sham needles | 4a | 6 | |
III. Location of sham needle | 3a | Location of sham needling (e.g., acupoints/non-acupoints, exact location of the sites) | 2b | 6 |
3b | Is it explicit that the points are unilateral or bilateral? | 6e | 6 | |
3c | Rationale for the location chosen for sham needling | 1b, 6a | 2 | |
IV. Treatment regimen | 4a | Number of placebo sessions | 3a | 8 |
4b | Frequency and duration of placebo sessions | 3b | 8 | |
4c | Total trial period for placebo group/sessions | 3a, 3b | ||
V. Practitioner | 5a | Is the same practitioner administering both treatment and control groups? | 5 | |
5b | Did practitioner and the patient have discussions prior to the treatment? (Doctor-patient relationship) | |||
5c | Was there any discussion regarding the symptoms during the treatment? | |||
VI. Protocol and settings | 6a | Instruction and information given by the practitioner to the patients (are the explanations that were given to participants of treatment and control interventions provided?) | 6b | 3 |
6b | Was the introduction to participants explained in the paper? | |||
6c | Did the instruction and information include the term “placebo” or “sham"? | |||
6d | Type of blinding (e.g., only the patients, double-blinding) | |||
6e | Was the method of blinding sham needle to patients elaborated? | |||
6f | Modification of the needling procedure if there was any, and reason for the modification | 10 | ||
6 g | Assessment of the intervention adherence or fidelity, and blinding | 12 | ||
6 h | Any differences in the settings between treatment and control groups | |||