title: Do the CONSORT and STRICTA Checklists Improve the Reporting Quality of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Randomized Controlled Trials Published in Chinese Journals? A Systematic Review and Analysis of Trends.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We investigated whether there had been an improvement in the quality of reporting for randomised controlled trials of acupuncture and moxibustion published in Chinese journals. We compared the compliance rate for the quality of reporting following the publication of both the STRICTA and CONSORT recommendations in China.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four Chinese databases were searched for RCTs of acupuncture from January 1978 through to December 2012. The CONSORT and STRICTA checklists were used to assess the quality of reporting. Data were collected using a standardised form. All included RCTs were divided into three distinct time periods based on the time that CONSORT and STRICTA were introduced in China, respectively. Pearson's χ2 test and/or Fisher's exact test were used to assess differences in reporting among three groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1978 RCTs were identified. Although the percentage of all the items has increased over time with the introduction of CONSORT and STRICTA in China, the actual compliance in several important methodological components, including sample size calculation (0% vs. 0% vs. 1.2%, for pre-CONSORT and pre-STRICTA, post-CONSORT but pre-STRICTA, and post-CONSORT and post-STRICTA, respectively), randomisation sequence generation (1.4% vs. 15% vs. 26.3%) and implementation (0% vs. 0% vs. 1.3%), allocation concealment (0% vs. 1.4% vs. 4.9%), and blinding (0% vs. 5.7% vs. 9.1%), remains low. Moreover, no RCTs have reported the setting and context of treatment and no descriptions of the participating acupuncturists have been provided thus far.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, the quality of the reporting of RCTs of acupuncture and moxibustion published in Chinese journals has improved since CONSORT and STRICTA were introduced in China, though the actual compliance rate of some important items were still low as of 2012. In the future, Chinese journals should enhance the adoption of the CONSORT and STRICTA statement to improve the reporting quality of the RCTs of acupuncture and moxibustion and to ensure the truth and reliability of the conclusions.
authors.affiliation: Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Institute of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.|Key Laboratory of Evidence Based Medicine and Knowledge Translation of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Institute of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-min
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Institute of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Jia-ke
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Institute of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Ya-nan
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Institute of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Kuang-yang
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Institute of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Fa-yong
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.affiliation: Traditional Chinese Medicine Ache Department, the First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Jun-qiang
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Interventional Latrology Department, the First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Institute of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Cheng-ben
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Institute of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Jian-xun
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Institute of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Jia-Hui
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Institute of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Qian-ge
authors.initials: QG
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Institute of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
authors.forename: Ya-ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D015706:Bibliometrics; D057189:Checklist / Q000639:trends; D002681:China; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D009071:Moxibustion; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011643:Publishing / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D058996:Quality Improvement; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends