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. 2018 Nov 13;2018(11):CD010559. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD010559.pub2

Mo 2016.

Methods Design: parallel RCT
Randomisation method: random number table
Blinding: no
Power calculation: no
Dropouts/withdrawals: no
Participants Cancer patients after chemotherapy with expected survival time of more than 6 months, Karnofsky ≥ 60, and WBC count less than 4 × 109/L; diagnosed with the Chinese medicine syndrome of qi and blood insufficiency
Number (treatment/control): 82 (41/41)
Mean age (range): 55.5 (34‐69)
Gender (M/F): 48/34
Country: Guangdong province, China
Setting: hospital
Interventions Moxa stick vs conventional medicine
Treatment group
  • Moxa stick

    • Moxa stick on the acupoints RN4 (guanyuan), RN8 (shenque), RN6 (qihai) and bilateral ST36 (zusanli), once per day, 20 minutes each treatment, 6 times per week

  • Treatment duration: 21 days


Control group
  • conventional medicine

    • Oral batilol 40 mg, 3/d and leucogen 20 mg, 3/d

  • Treatment duration: 21 days

Outcomes WBC count and Karnofsky score at the end of treatment
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias Authors' judgement Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias) Low risk Random number table
Allocation concealment (selection bias) Unclear risk No relevant description
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) 
 All outcomes Low risk There was no loss to follow‐up. All participants were included in the analysis.
Selective reporting (reporting bias) Unclear risk Limited outcome measures were reported.
Other bias Unclear risk There was no statement about group similarity.
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) 
 All outcomes High risk No blinding
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) 
 Subjective outcomes High risk No blinding
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) 
 Objective outcomes Low risk No blinding; however, machine‐measured objective outcomes were not influenced substantially