Table 3.

Contents of the sham-auriculotherapy with relevant justifications and evidence.

Item	Contents	Justifications	Evidence sources
Auricular acupoints	Main acupoints: Kidney (CO10), Bladder (CO9), Urethra (HX3), Central Rim (AT2,3,4i) Adjunct acupoints: Lung (CO14), Spleen (CO13), Subcortex (AT4), Sympathetic Nerve (AH6a), Shenmen (TF4)	(1) Three types of sham acupoints: non-meridian non-acupoints, irrelevant meridian acupoints, and target auricular acupoints (2) The ear size is small, the auricular acupoints can be recognized more, and it is difficult to locate the non-auricular points (3) There is no guarantee that other irrelevant meridian acupoints have no effect on improving UI	Systematic reviews35, 36, 37
Auricular acupoints location	(1) Observation by using the standard auricular map and model (2) Palpation by using the auricular detector	To achieve a blind design of participants	Auriculotherapy practice standards23,24
Auriculotherapy modality	(1) Ear plaster (2) Vaccaria seeds auricular patches with no acupressure	To reduce stimulation to certain auricular acupoints and minimize potential curative effects	Systematic review36
Auricular sticking techniques	(1) This item was applied to intervention providers (2) The traditional auricular sticking techniques: auricular acupoint positioning and auricular acupoint sticking (3) Auricular application only fixed tightly, and was advised to avoid causing Deqi sensation	To minimize the specific treatment effects produced by acupoint stimulation	Systematic review36
Auricular acupressure techniques	Not applicable	To minimize the specific treatment effects produced by acupoint stimulation	Systematic review36
Auriculotherapy dosage	3–7 days per session in winter and 1–3 days per session in summer, total lasted 12 weeks	To achieve a blind design of participants	(1) Systematic review36 (2) Auriculotherapy practice standard25

UI, urinary incontinence.