Yu 2004.
Methods | Design: parallel RCT Randomisation method: not reported Blinding: no Power calculation: no Dropouts/withdrawals: yes |
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Participants | The patients with cervical cancer (stage I, II and III) with Karnofsky score > 80 Number (treatment/control): 68 (38/30) Mean age (range): 58 (38‐81) Gender (M/F): F Country: Jiangsu province, China Setting: hospital |
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Interventions | Moxa stick vs no treatment Treatment group
Control group
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Outcomes | IgG, IgA, IgM, Hb, CD3, CD4, CD8 at the end of treatment | |
Notes | The studies Yu 2011, Yuan 2003, Yu 2002, Yu 2003a, Yu 2003b, Xu 2002, Xu 2003 and Zhu 2003 were considered to be reports of the same study as Yu 2004. The additional data from these studies were incorporated into Yu 2004. | |
Risk of bias | ||
Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
Random sequence generation (selection bias) | High risk | Not described; there was an imbalance in the number of participants between groups |
Allocation concealment (selection bias) | Unclear risk | No relevant description |
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes | High risk | There were participants lost to follow‐up. |
Selective reporting (reporting bias) | Unclear risk | Limited outcome measures were reported. |
Other bias | Unclear risk | It was mentioned that the groups were comparable, but no baseline characteristics data were presented. |
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes | High risk | No blinding |
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) Subjective outcomes | Unclear risk | No subjective outcome was reported. |
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) Objective outcomes | Low risk | No blinding; however, machine‐measured objective outcomes were not influenced substantially |