ArticleEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2012
How to design the control group in randomized controlled trials of acupuncture?
Article in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Sham control methods used in ear-acupuncture/ear-acupressure randomized controlled trials: a systematic review.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2014Pooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- Selection of acupoints for managing upper-extremity spasticity in chronic stroke patients.Clinical interventions in aging · 2014Trial
- Molecular and Cellular Mechanism of Acupuncture: Neuro-Immune Interactions Based on Endogenous Opioid System.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2026Review
- Effect of virtual reality (VR) technology on anxiety control and acrophobia reduction: A randomized controlled trial in Iran.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Understandings of acupuncture application and mechanisms.American journal of translational research · 2022Review
- Acupuncture Relieved Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Patients with Breast Cancer: A Pilot Randomized Sham-Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Effects of Laser Acupuncture Therapy for Patients With Inadequate Recovery From Bell's Palsy: Preliminary Results From Randomized, Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled Study.Journal of lasers in medical sciences · 2021Article
- Article
- Analysis of the Registration Information on Interventions of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Trials in the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2018Review
- Can acupuncture therapy help patients with retinitis-pigmentosa?Journal of current ophthalmology · 2017Article
- Qigong Exercises for the Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.Medicines (Basel, Switzerland) · 2017Review
- A pilot study of an acupuncture protocol to improve visual function in retinitis pigmentosa patients.Clinical & experimental optometry · 2014Article
- An Evaluation of Electroacupuncture at the Weizhong Acupoint (BL-40) as a Means of Relieving Pain Induced by Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In evidence-based medicine, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the preferred method for evaluating the efficacy of interventions. In regard to acupuncture RCTs, the most difficult issues are the design of the control group and implementation of the principle of "double-blinding." We compared the advantages and limitations associated with different control group designs in acupuncture RCTs, to assist researchers in this field.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.