Acupuncture for chronic, stable angina pectoris and an investigation of the characteristics of acupoint specificity: study protocol for a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Table 1 Trial process chart

Period	Baseline	Inclusion	Treatment	Follow-up
Measurement		1	2	3	4	5
Week	-4	0	4	8	12	16
Patients
Informed consent
Inclusion/exclusion criteria	×	×
Medical history	×
Medical examination	×
Combined disease treatment	×	×	×	×	×	×
Physical examination	×
Outcomes
Angina diary	×	×	×	×	×	×
The frequency of angina attack	×	×	×	×	×	×
The dosage of nitroglycerin	×	×	×	×	×	×
Angina pectoris grade		×	×	×	×	×
The pain severity of angina(VAS)	×	×	×	×	×	×
SAQ score		×	×	×	×	×
Six minutes’ walk test		×	×
SAS and SDS		×	×	×		×
24 hours dynamic ECG		×	×
Cardiovascular events			×	×	×	×
Trial evaluation
Patient’s compliance			×			×
Reasons of drop-out or withdrawals			×			×
Adverse events						×
Safety evaluation						×

ECG, dynamic electrocardiograph; SAQ, Seattle Angina Questionnaire; SAS, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale; SDS, Self-Rating Depression Scale; VAS, Visual Analogue Scale.

ISSN: 1745-6215