Hua SG 1997.

Methods	Generation of allocation sequence: unstated. Blinding: not used. Sample size estimation: no information. Withdrawal/drop‐out: unstated.
Participants	Ethnic: Chinese; 300 patients (200 in treatment group, M/F 91/109, mean age 54 years (30‐79), mean disease duration 4.2 years (0.25‐11 years). 100 in control group, M/F 35/65, mean age 50 years (27‐72), mean disease duration 3.9 years (0.1‐12 years)). Setting: unstated. Inclusion criteria: type 2 diabetes mellitus diagnosed by WHO criteria, with basic normal function of heart, brain, kidney, and without severe complications and previous use of insulin. Exclusion criteria: unstated.
Interventions	Experimental intervention: Yiqi Yangyin Huayu Tang (mixture of 10 herbs) decoction, one dosage daily, decocted as 300 ml, two times orally, for three months. Control intervention: glibenclamide, 2.5‐5 mg orally, 2‐3 times daily, for three months. All patients were on diet control.
Outcomes	Symptoms and FBG. No follow‐up was reported.
Notes	A skew random allocation with 1:2 of control to treatment was not explained for reasons.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment?	Unclear risk	B ‐ Unclear