Chang ZQ 1998.

Methods	Generation of allocation sequence: not stated. Blinding: not used. Sample size estimation: no information. Withdrawal/drop‐out: unstated.
Participants	Ethnic: Chinese; 126 patients (70 in treatment group, M/F 43/27, mean age 48.6 years, mean disease duration 1.5 years; including 10 cases of type 1 diabetics and 60 cases of type 2 diabetics; 56 in control group, M/F 32/24, mean age 46.7 years, mean disease duration 11 months; including 8 type 1 diabetics and 48 type 2 diabetics). Setting: inpatients. Inclusion criteria: diabetes diagnosed by WHO criteria (1980). Exclusion criteria: unstated.
Interventions	Experimental intervention: Herbal mixture (9‐12 herbs, prescribed based on TCM diagnosis) decoction, one dosage/day, divided into two times orally, for two months. For type 2 diabetics, plus glibenclamide, 2.5‐5 mg, b.i.d., and metformin, 250 mg, t.i.d.; both for two months. Control intervention: glibenclamide, 2.5‐5 mg orally, b.i.d.; plus metformin, 250 mg, t.i.d., for two months. Co interventions in both groups were vitamin C, B1, B6, and dietary therapy.
Outcomes	FBG, HbA1c, and serum insulin. Data from fasting blood glucose and HbA1c could not be used due to inadequate report of mixed type 1 and type 2 diabetics in both groups. No follow‐up was reported after the end of treatment.
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment?	Unclear risk	B ‐ Unclear