Online Resource 3 Reporting quality of RCTs based on STRICTA

Item Detail Qin 2012a Yang 2012 Yu 2012 Comment

1. Acupuncture 1a) Style of acupuncture Y Y Y Style of moxibustion rationale (e.g. Traditional Chinese (e.g. Direct Medicine，Japanese，K moxibustion, Indirect orean，Western moxibustion, Heat- medical，Five sensitive moxibustion, Moxa Element，ear burner moxibustion, acupuncture，etc) Natural moxibustion) 1b) Reasoning for Y Y Y treatment provided，based on historical context，literature sources，and/or consensus methods，with references where appropriate 1c) Extent to which N N N “Y” is needed to treatment was varied state the detailed description 2. Details of 2a) Number of needle Y Y Y Number of treated needling insertions per subject per moxibustion session (mean and range treatment per point where relevant) per session 2b) Names (or location if Y Y Y no standard name) of points used (uni/bilateral) 2c) Depth of We revised this insertion，based on a domain to “Materials specified unit of used for measurement，or on a moxibustion” particular tissue level 2d) Response sought Y Y Y (e.g. de qi or muscle twitch response) 2e) Needle stimulation N N Y Procedure and (e.g. manual，electrical) technique for moxibustion 2f) Needle retention time Y Y Y Time of moxibustion treatment per point 2g) Needle type N N Y Detailed feature of (diameter，length，and moxibustion manufacturer or material) 3. Treatment 3a) Number of treatment Y Y Y regimen sessions 3b) Frequency and Y Y Y duration of treatment sessions 4. Other 4a) Details of other N N Y components of interventions treatment administered to the acupuncture group (e.g. moxibustion，cupping ，herbs，exercises，life style advice) 4b) Setting and context N N N of treatment，including instructions to practitioners，and information and explanations to patients 5. Practitioner 5) Description of N N N background participating acupuncturists (qualification or professional affiliation，years in acupuncture practice，other relevant experience) 6. Control or 6a) Rationale for the N N N comparator control or comparator in interventions the context of the research question，with sources that justify this choice 6b) Precise description N N Y of the control or comparator. If sham acupuncture or any other type of acupuncture-like control is used，provide details as for Items 1 to 3 above.

N not adequately reported; RCTs randomized controlled trials; STRICTA standards for reporting interventions in clinical trials of acupuncture; Y adequately reported