Assessing the quality of reports about randomized controlled trials of scalp acupuncture combined with another treatment for stroke

Abstract

BackgroundThis study was designed to assess the quality of reporting on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of scalp acupuncture for the treatment of stroke.MethodsThe following 8 databases were systematically investigated from their inception to December 2015: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, National Institute of Informatics Scholarly and Academic Information Navigator, National Digital Science Library, Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, and Korean Studies Information Service System. RCTs utilizing scalp acupuncture as an intervention for stroke were selected, and the quality of reports was assessed based on the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials 2010 statement (CONSORT) and Standards for Reporting Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture 2010 (STRICTA). For each study, the overall quality score (OQS) of 13 CONSORT items, a combined key methodological index score (MIS) of 5 CONSORT items, and the OQS of 17 STRICTA items were measured.ResultsThe original reports of 63 RCTs were ultimately obtained, and the median CONSORT OQS was 7 (minimum 2, maximum 11). Particularly, the items ‘trial design’, ‘sample size’, ‘ancillary analyses’, and ‘harms’ had a positive rate of less than 10%. The median MIS was 1 (minimum 0, maximum 5), with ‘allocation concealment and implementation’ and ‘intent-to-treat analysis (ITT) analysis’ having a positive rate of less than 10%. The median STRICTA OQS was 11 (minimum 6, maximum 14), and only the items ‘sample size’ and ‘intent-to-treat analysis’ were reported, with a positive rate of less than 10%. The mean CONSORT OQS increased by approximately 0.81 for each 5-year period in which manuscripts were published (95% confidence interval: 0.43 to 1.19; p < 0.001). No variable was significantly associated with MIS in the ordinal regression model.ConclusionThe quality of reports on RCTs investigating scalp acupuncture treatment for stroke was moderate to low. Furthermore, reporting of some items was either insufficient or inadequate in the majority of studies. In order to improve and standardize the quality of RCTs investigating scalp acupuncture for stroke, CONSORT and STRICTA guidelines should be utilized more frequently.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12906-017-1950-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Do acupuncture trials have lower risk of bias over the last five decades? A methodological study of 4 715 randomized controlled trials

“…Our findings are similar to those previously reported, in which the authors found the reporting in acupuncture RCTs for a broad range of topics was generally poor when CON-SORT and STRICTA were used to assess the reporting quality [12][13][14][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. Additionally, several studies have shown the overall high rates of RCTs at unclear and high RoB on acupuncture, which are consistent with our findings [16,20,32].…”

“…Many studies have assessed the RoB or reporting quality in acupuncture RCTs, but they are restricted to the number of RCTs included, specific topics, journals, or countries [12][13][14][15][16][17]. As far as we know, there has not been an article that assesses the RoB of acupuncture RCTs from the inception of research.…”

Acupuncture for recurrent urinary tract infection in women: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…27 Poor reporting of the setting and context has been found in other reviews. 28,29 This may limit the generalisability of the results from this review to other similar interventions.…”

Meridian Acupuncture in Stroke Rehabilitation: A literature review

“…Based on the TCM theory, the pathogenesis of dysphagia after stroke is caused by a lack of liver and kidney stagnant Qi and blood that fails to nourish the tongue, and pathogenic factors, especially wind and phlegm, further obstruction of the doctor and throat, due to difficulty swallowing (20). In this case of dyspepsia the meridian points used All patients in the acupuncture group will receive acupuncture at acupuncture points such as GB12 (Wan Gu, bilateral), GB20 (Feng Chi, bilateral), CV23 (Lian Quan), DU20 (Bai Hui), and LI4 (He Gu, bilateral) and HT5 (Tong Li, bilateral), including ST40 (Fenglong, bilateral) for pathogenic subtypes and LR3 (Taichong, bilateral) for liver elemental balancing types in TCM (10).…”