Table 1.
Characteristics of the included studies.
| Author, year | Sample size (treatment/control) |
Inclusion criteria ① ACR ② Guiding principles of clinical research on new drugs for TCM |
Intervention of treatment group | Intervention of control group | Duration of intervention | Outcome measures (1) Curative effect ① Recovery rate ② Recovery and marked-improvement rate (2) Pain (3) Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Su 2012 [24] | 70 (35/35) | ② | Fire-needle moxibustion | Filiform-needle acupuncture | 1 session = NR, twice every week, 4 times, a total of 2 sessions | (1) ①② (2) NA (3) NA |
|
| ||||||
| Zeng et al. 2008 [25] | 129 (73/56) | ① | Fire-needle moxibustion | Filiform-needle acupuncture | 1 session = NR, twice every week, 4 times, a total of 2 sessions | (1) ①② (2) NA (3) NA |
|
| ||||||
| Zhu 2010 [26] | 98 (56/42) | ① | Fire-needle moxibustion | Filiform-needle acupuncture | 1 session = 30 min, 3 times every week, 6 times, a total of 2 sessions | (1) ①② (2) NA (3) NA |
|
| ||||||
| Jie et al. 2006 [27] | 240 (120/120) | ② | Fire-needle moxibustion | Filiform-needle acupuncture | 1 session = NR, once every 2 days, 5 times, a total of 2 sessions | (1) ①② (2) NA (3) NA |
|
| ||||||
| Li et al. 2011 [28] | 62 (32/30) | ① | Fire-needle moxibustion | Filiform-needle acupuncture | 1 session = 20 min, twice every week, 16 times, a total of 2 sessions | (1) ①② (2) ISOA (3) Adverse events |
|
| ||||||
| Lu et al. 2013 [29] | 60 (30/30) | ① | Fire-needle moxibustion | Warm-needle moxibustion | 1 session = NR, 3 times every week, 12 times, a total of 1 session | (1) NA (2) VAS (3) NA |
|
| ||||||
| Zhang et al. 2013 [30] | 72 (36/36) | ① | Fire-needle moxibustion | Warm-needle moxibustion | 1 session = 30 min, 3 times every week, 12 times, a total of 1 session | (1) ①② (2) WOMAC (3) NA |
|
| ||||||
| Kuang 2006 [31] | 100 (50/50) | ② | Fire-needle moxibustion | Warm-needle moxibustion | 1 session = NR, twice every 2 days, 10 times, a total of 3 sessions | (1) ①② (2) NA (3) NA |
|
| ||||||
| Tao et al. 2013 [32] | 66 (32/34) | ① | Fire-needle moxibustion | Filiform-needle acupuncture | 1 session = 30 min, twice every 2 days, 12 times, a total of 1 session | (1) ①② (2) WOMAC (3) NA |
|
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| Zhu 2013 [33] | 63 (33/30) | ① | Fire-needle moxibustion | Filiform-needle acupuncture | 1 session = 30 min, twice every week, 12 times, a total of 1 session | (1) ①② (2) NA (3) Adverse events |
|
| ||||||
| Huang 2013 [34] | 80 (41/39) | ② | Fire-needle moxibustion | Filiform-needle acupuncture | 1 session = 30 min, 3 times every week, 24 times, a total of 1 session | (1) ①② (2) ISOA (3) NA |
|
| ||||||
| Wang 2015 [35] | 78 (39/39) | ① | Fire-needle moxibustion | Filiform-needle acupuncture | 1 session = 20 min, once every day, 14 times, a total of 1 session | (1) ①② (2) NA (3) NA |
|
| ||||||
| Wu and Tian 2014 [36] | 61 (31/30) | ② | Fire-needle moxibustion | Filiform-needle acupuncture | 1 session = NR, 3 times every week, 10 times, a total of 3 sessions | (1) ①② (2) VAS (3) Adverse events |
NA: not assessed; NR: not reported; KOA: knee osteoarthritis; ACR: American College of Rheumatology; VAS: Visual Analog Scale; WOMAC: Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index; ISOA: Index of Severity for Osteoarthritis.