Comparison of the efficacy between conventional moxibustion and smoke-free moxibustion on knee osteoarthritis: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

Table 1 Study design schedule

Period	Inclusion	Treatment		Follow-up
	Baseline	First assessment	Second assessment	Third assessment	Fourth assessment
	0 week	2 weeks after inclusion	4 weeks after inclusion	8 weeks after inclusion	12 weeks after inclusion
Inclusion confirmed	√
Informed consent	√
Randomization and blinding	√
Sociodemographic characteristics	√
Disease history	√		√
Treatment history	√		√
Comorbidity	√		√	√	√
Current treatment	√		√	√	√
Outcomes
WOMAC	√	√	√	√	√
VAS	√	√	√	√	√
PGA		√	√	√	√
Trial evaluation
Outcome analysis					√
Adverse event			√
Causes of dropout			√
Safety analysis			√
Compliance analysis			√

WOMAC Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, VAS visual analog scale, PGA Patient Global Assessment

ISSN: 1745-6215