Table 4 Revised Standards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA)
Item criteria | Description | |
|---|---|---|
1. Acupuncture rationale | 1a) Style of acupuncture | Korean medicine therapy |
1b) Reasoning for treatment provided, based on historical context, literature sources, and/or consensus methods, with references where appropriate | 1) Discussion among four doctors who practice Korean medicine (consensus) 2) Textbook of acupuncture and moxibustion medicine Selection of treatment regions based on textbooks, related papers, and expert discussions | |
1c) Extent to which treatment varied | Standardized treatment | |
2. Details of needling | 2a) Number of needle insertions per subject per session (mean and range where relevant) | 2–4 |
2b) Names (or location if no standard name) of points used (uni-/bilateral) | SIAN’s MS6; MS7 of the lesional hemisphere | |
2c) Depth of insertion, based on a specified unit of measurement or on a particular tissue level | Needles were horizontally inserted into the subcutaneous tissue of the scalp, about 3 cm deep. | |
2d) Responses sought | No de qi or muscle twitching — only sensation due to needle insertion | |
2e) Needle stimulation | None | |
2f) Needle retention time | 20 min per session | |
2 g) Needle type | KOS-92 non-magnetic steel disposable needles (0.25-mm diameter and 30-mm length), manufactured by Dong Bang Acupuncture, Inc. | |
3. Treatment regimen | 3a) Number of treatment sessions | 15 |
3b) Frequency and duration of treatment sessions | Five times/week for 3 weeks, 20 min per session | |
4. Other treatment components | 4a) Details of other interventions administered to the acupuncture group | Conventional stroke rehabilitation therapy |
4b) Setting and context of treatment, including instructions to practitioners, as well as information and explanations given to patients | Practitioner-patient conversation about the context of the treatment, life habits, and daily life management | |
5. Practitioner background | 5) Description of participating acupuncturists | Korean medicine doctor with the following qualifications: 6 years of formal university training in Korean medicine, a license, and at least 2 years of clinical experience |
6. Control or comparator interventions | 6a) Rationale for the control or comparator in the context of the research question, with sources that justify the choice | Wang Y, Shen J, Wang XM, Fu DL, Chen CY, Lu LY, et al. Scalp acupuncture for acute ischemic stroke: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Evid Based Complement Altern Med 2012;2012:480950; Lee SJ, Shin BC, Lee MS, Han CH, Kim JI. Scalp acupuncture for stroke recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. European J Integr Med. 2013;5:87–99 |
6b) Precise description of the control or comparator; details for items 1–3 above with the use of sham acupuncture or any other type of acupuncture-like control | Conventional stroke rehabilitation therapy for control, rTMS, and SAEM-CS groups. LF-rTMS applied to the hot spot of the M1 region (the motor cortex at the contralesional hemisphere) for the rTMS group and LF-rTMS applied to the same M1 and simultaneous SA stimulation over the upper MS6 and MS7 regions of the lesional hemisphere for the SAEM-CS group |