Dias 1982.
| Methods | Design: parallel group Allocation concealment: unclear Blinding: patients and evaluators Jadad score: 1‐2‐0 Duration: varying observation periods for different patients (2‐12 weeks) | |
| Participants | N = 20 (10 female, 10 male), age range 18‐73. Outpatients of a general hospital in Sri Lanka. Diagnosis ‐ chronic bronchial asthma. Poor response to Western drugs. All patients on 'some form of medication' (no clear in‐/exclusion criteria given), duration of symptoms 1 to 41 years | |
| Interventions | Acupuncture group: Standardized acupuncture formulae (n = 10) with 3 points REN‐22, EX‐BW1, LU‐7. Each Treatment sessions takes 30 minutes).
Laterality not stated. Control group: Sham acupuncture (n = 10) at 2 non‐specific (not indicated for asthma) acupuncture points: GB‐5, GB‐6. Laterality not stated. Treatment duration: Session(s) number vary from 2 to 8 in control and 4 to 12 in experimental group. Acupuncturist: Physician Diploma from Beijing. TCM‐Diagnosis done/applied to intervention: (‐/‐) |
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| Outcomes | Pulmonary function, drug use, subjective assessment (before and after acupuncture treatment) | |
| Notes | Results seem to favour sham acupuncture but due to small sample size and methodological flaws definite conclusion cannot be drawn.
Problems:
(1) variable observation period for individual patients
(2) extremely heterogeneous population
(3) GB5,6 used for sham control can be indicated in some asthma patients according to traditional Chinese medicine
(4) Insufficient information on breathing exercises (type, compliance, education, length of practice etc) INSUFFICIENT REPORTING |
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| Risk of bias | ||
| Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
| Adequate sequence generation? | Unclear risk | No information provided |
| Allocation concealment? | Unclear risk | No information provided |
| Blinding? All outcomes | High risk | Sham acupuncture administered in different locations on the body to active. |
| Incomplete outcome data addressed? All outcomes | High risk | Last observation carried forward |
| Free of other bias? | Unclear risk | Therapist had received training in China |