Acupuncture for patients with mild hypertension: study protocol of an open-label multicenter randomized controlled trial

Table 1 Time to visit and data collection

	-1 week	0 week	3 weeks	6 weeks	3 weeks after treatment	6 weeks after treatment
	Baseline	Treatment phase			Follow-up phase
Patients	X
Informed consent	x
Medical history	x
Physical examination		x
Randomization
Intervention
Affected meridian acupuncture group (n = 107)		18 sessions of acupuncture at acupoints
Non-affected meridian acupuncture group (n = 107)		18 sessions of acupuncture at acupoints
Comparisons
Incasive sham acupuncture group (n = 107)		18 sessions of acupuncture at non-acupoints
Waiting-list group (n = 107)		18 sessions of treatment at the end of the trial
Outcomes
24-h blood pressure		x		x	x	x
Expectation of acupuncture		x
SF- 36		x		x
Response to treatment				x
Participants safety
Laboratory test		x
Adverse events		x	x	x	x	x

SAS, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale; SDS, Self-Rating Depression Scale; SF-36, MOS item Short Form health survey.

ISSN: 1745-6215