Table 2.

Timetable of treatment and outcome collection

Period	Baseline	Treatment phase	Follow-up phase
Visit	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Week	-4	1 to 4	8	12	16	20	24
Informed consent	×
Demographic characteristics	×
Medical history	×
Laboratory tests, electrocardiography, pregnancy test	×
Inclusion/exclusion criteria	×
Vital signs	×	×	×	×	×	×	×
Change of medical history	×	×	×	×	×	×	×
Random allocation	×
Acupuncture		⊗
Headache diary	×	×	×	×	×	×	×
Visual analog scale	×	×	×	×	×	×	×
Headache intensity grade	×	×	×	×	×	×	×
Migraine-specific Quality-of-Life Questionnaire	×	×
Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale	×	×
Zung Self-rating Depression Scale	×	×
Acupuncture Expectancy Questionnaire	×
Safety assessment							×

The detailed outcome assessment time points are provided. The outcome measures will be measured at baseline, the week of the last acupuncture session, and 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks after randomization, except that the acupuncture expectation value is assessed before randomization, and that MSQ, SAS and SDS are assessed only at four weeks after treatment.

× = all groups; ⊗ = treatment groups.