The survey identified differences in practice and training between acupuncturists in China and the EU and between EU member states. These differences may inform prioritisation of health conditions for future trials. Innovative research methods are recommended to incorporate the complexity and plurality of acupuncture practice and theory. Creation of collaborative networks is crucial in overcoming these differences to facilitate international, multi-centre clinical trials.

A minority of acupuncturists have become specialists in supporting fertility issues. The use of an acupuncture protocol is common but does not conform to traditional acupuncture as it is taught and practiced for other conditions.

This review suggest that disease-oriented studies using the approach of multi-indexed high-throughput technologies and systems biology analyses will be a preferred strategy for future acupuncture/moxibustion research.

Introduction: Pattern differentiation is a critical component for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) diagnosis and treatment. However, the issue of whether pattern differentiation is appropriately applied in TCM interventional trials, including Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) interventions and non-herbal TCM interventions, is unclear. The aim of this study was to i) systematically review the current status of pattern differentiation used in WHO-registered clinical trials for different types of TCM interventions; and ii) provide suggestions for improving the use of pattern differentiation in future clinical trial design. Methods: The World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) database was searched for all TCM interventional trials registered up to 31 December 2017. In this systematic review trials with a TCM pattern differentiation in their design were included. Descriptive statistics were collated to demonstrate the characteristics of pattern differentiation applied for different TCM interventional trials. Results: Among 2,955 TCM interventional trials registered during 1999-2017, 376 (12.7%) trials included pattern differentiation. Of 376 trials, the use of pattern differentiation was identified in-title (30.6%), objective (50.5%), participants inclusion 4 (100%), outcomes (43.6%) and study background (12.5%). Further, 85.4% reported the specific name of the TCM intervention, 10.6% provided the intervention's targeted pattern, 83.8% reported the specific name of the TCM pattern, 7.2% presented diagnostic criteria for the pattern studied, and 19.1% adopted a pattern-related outcome as primary outcome for evaluation. Conclusion: The reporting and application of pattern differentiation in TCM trials were inadequate and confusing, which was mainly due to lack of clarity regarding study design, objectives, diagnostic criteria and outcomes.

Introduction: In traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM), various systems of practice exist that have used different theories to guide their practice. Although data gathering has been limited to what can be observed by the four examinationssi zhen, the different systems of practice have focused on different observational data to make diagnostic decisions and choose corresponding treatments. The organization of the data into patterns has led to what is called Pattern Identification based systems of practice (PIs). Methods: The range of systems, theories, treatments and PIs were explored in order to highlight important issues for researchers to consider in performing PI based research Results: Expert opinions, scholarly and clinical literature on the key issues which compose 'pattern identification' (PI) were identified with respect to the history, development, nature and the different strategies used by different PIs for diagnosing and treating patients. Conclusion:It is important for researchers to understand these issues so as not to weaken their results and findings, whether conducting survey-based research, clinical trial research, laboratory studies or seeking to influence teaching and practice. This is the first in a series of papers by the international Pattern Identification Network Group (iPING) helping to clarify the area of research on PIs and which seek to expand lines of research on PIs so that teaching, practice, clinical and laboratory research can be more consequential.