STRICTA:
STandards for Reporting Clinical Trials of
Acupuncture
The need for better standards of reporting of
controlled trials of acupuncture has been evident for some time. In particular,
poor standards of reporting of interventions in trials of acupuncture has led to
difficulties with their interpretation and analysis.
It was in this context that an opportunity arose at a meeting of an
international group of acupuncture researchers at Exeter University, UK, in July
2001. Initiated by Dr Hugh
MacPherson, one of the tasks of the group was to draft a set of recommendations
for better reporting of acupuncture trial interventions. Named the STRICTA
recommendations: STandards for Reporting
Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture, they
were designed as a supplement to the CONSORT
Statement, which has led to improved reporting of trial design and conduct
in general.
The STRICTA recommendations went through a second
drafting phase with five journal editors and their advisors, the aim being to
refine the checklist
of the six key items. The guiding principle was a commitment to achieving a
broad enough set of recommendations that would cover the most common approaches
to both acupuncture and research design. These recommendations were co-published
in articles by the key journals in the field. Participating
journals are Acupuncture in Medicine, Clinical Acupuncture and Oriental
Medicine, Complementary Therapies in Medicine, Journal of Alternative and
Complementary Medicine and Medical Acupuncture. Subsequently the Australian
Journal of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine has joined this group. Participating journals have
added the STRICTA recommendations to their instructions to authors. Translations
into languages other than English are now available in Chinese,
Japanese and Korean.