Malmström 2002.

Methods	Design: parallel group Drop‐outs/withdrawals: 3 drop‐outs in treatment group Jadad score: 2‐0‐1 Duration: Run‐in up to 12 weeks, 15 weeks treatment, followed‐up 2 weeks after final treatment.
Participants	N = 27 (15 female, 12 male), age range 33‐48, primary care, assumed treatment in primary care setting. Diagnosis of mild asthma as defined by history of wheezing attacks, variable airways constriction and bronchial response to IHCA. Excluded if > 800 micrograms per day of ICS, no OCS, recent use of complementary medicine (in last 3 months), URTI in 3 weeks before any test day. Patients had FEV1 (% pred.) of 83‐101 and R5 (kPa/l/s) 0.39‐0.60.
Interventions	Acupuncture group: Individualised acupuncture from LU5, LU6, LU7, PC6, CV17, BL13, GV20, ST36, ST40, KI3 (n = 13). Number of needles gradually increased from 5 to 16. De qi sought twice per session. Needles 0.30‐0.32mm. Control group: mock TENS on upper chest. Same frequency and duration as controls. Treatment duration: 30 min sessions: 2/week for 5 weeks then 1/week for 10 weeks. Acupuncturist quality: one experienced nurse. TCM‐Diagnosis done/applied to intervention: (+/‐)
Outcomes	Published: pulmonary function (induced attack) Unpublished: pulmonary function (at set points) and drug use.
Notes	Study included as one of the authors provided relevant data. No significant effect of treatment reported in bronchial responsiveness to induced attack.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Adequate sequence generation?	Unclear risk	No information available
Allocation concealment?	Low risk	Third party determined order allocation
Blinding? All outcomes	High risk	Acupuncture and sham treatment were not identical
Incomplete outcome data addressed? All outcomes	Unclear risk	No information available
Free of other bias?	Unclear risk	Experienced nurse administered treatment