Assessment of reporting quality in randomised controlled trials of acupuncture for post-stroke rehabilitation using the CONSORT statement and STRICTA guidelines

There can be no quality reporting of acupuncture studies since energy meridians have never been proven. The placebo effect is strong in this one and grifting must be good.
http://aim.bmj.com/content/early/2016/08/17/acupmed-2016-011062.abstract

1. Jingchun Zeng1,
2. Guohua Lin2,
3. Lixia Li3,
4. Liming Lu4,
5. Chuyun Chen3,
6. Lihong Lu1

+ Author Affiliations

1. ¹Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
2. ²Department of Acupuncture, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
3. ³Department of Acupuncture, Guangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
4. ⁴Key Unit of Methodology in Clinical Research, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China

1. Correspondence to Professor Guohua Lin, Department of Acupuncture, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510405, China; tcmlin-801@163.com

• Accepted 23 July 2016
• Published Online First 17 August 2016

Abstract

Objectives To evaluate the completeness of reporting of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture for post-stroke rehabilitation in order to provide information to facilitate transparent and more complete reporting of acupuncture RCTs in this field.

Methods Multiple databases were searched from their inception through September 2015. Quality of reporting for included papers was assessed against a subset of criteria adapted from the Consolidated Standards for Reporting Trials (CONSORT) 2010 statement and the Standards for Reporting Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA) guidelines. Each item was scored 1 if it was reported, or 0 if it was not clearly stated. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed. Cohen's κ-statistics were calculated to assess agreement between the two reviewers.

Results A total of 87 RCTs were included in the full text. Based on CONSORT, good reporting was evident for items ‘‘Randomised’ in the title or abstract’, ‘Participants’, ‘Statistical methods’, ‘Recruitment’, ‘Baseline data’, and ‘Outcomes and estimation’, with positive rates >80%. However, the quality of reporting for the items ‘Trial design’, ‘Outcomes’, ‘Sample size’, ‘Allocation concealment’, ‘Implementation’, ‘Blinding’, ‘Flow chart’, ‘Intent-to-treat analysis’, and ‘Ancillary analyses’ was very poor with positive rates <10%. Based on STRICTA, the items ‘Number of needle insertions per subject per session’, ‘Responses sought’, and ‘Needle type’ had poor reporting with positive rates <50%. Substantial agreement was observed for most items and good agreement was observed for some items.

Conclusions The reporting quality of RCTs in acupuncture for post-stroke rehabilitation is unsatisfactory and needs improvement.