| Methods |
Design: Five group parallel trial
Purpose: To study the effect of acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, acupuncture and craniosacral therapy, attention control and waiting list control on asthma. |
| Participants |
Patients: out‐patients with chronic asthma
Baseline comparability: NS |
| Interventions |
Placebo: Attention control
Untreated: waiting list control
Experimental: Acupuncture, craniosacral, acupuncture and craniosacral.
(Co‐intervention: Standard medical management) |
| Outcomes |
Pulmonary function Asthma quality of life questionnaire. Profile of mood states. Beck depression inventory. Beck anxiety inventory. Medication form. |
| Notes |
|
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Adequate sequence generation? |
Unclear risk |
'random number generating program' |
| Allocation concealment? |
Unclear risk |
NS |
| Blinding?
Treatment provider |
High risk |
Not described as double‐blind (placebo/acupuncture) |
| Blinding?
Outcome assessor |
Low risk |
'The respiratory therapist performing pulmonary function testing was blind to the assignments of the subjects' |
| Incomplete outcome data addressed?
All outcomes |
High risk |
Drop‐out > 15% or NS |
| Free of selective reporting? |
Unclear risk |
No protocol available |
| Free of other bias? |
Low risk |
|
| Trial size > 49? |
High risk |
N = ? |
| Clearly concealed allocation + trial size > 49 + drop‐out max 15% |
High risk |
Trial size < 49 |
