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Effectiveness guidance document (EGD) for acupuncture research - a consensus document for conducting trials

BACKGROUND:There is a need for more Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) to strengthen the evidence base for clinical and policy decision-making. Effectiveness Guidance Documents (EGD) are targeted to clinical researchers. The aim of this EGD is to provide specific recommendations for the design of prospective acupuncture studies to support optimal use of resources for generating evidence that will inform stakeholder decision-making.METHODS:Document development based on multiple systematic consensus procedures (written Delphi rounds, interactive consensus workshop, international expert review). To balance aspects of internal and external validity, multiple stakeholders including patients, clinicians and payers were involved.RESULTS:Recommendations focused mainly on randomized studies and were developed for the following areas: overall research strategy, treatment protocol, expertise and setting, outcomes, study design and statistical analyses, economic evaluation, and publication.CONCLUSION:The present EGD, based on an international consensus developed with multiple stakeholder involvement, provides the first systematic methodological guidance for future CER on acupuncture.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/610363
Date January 2012
CreatorsWitt, Claudia, Aickin, Mikel, Baca, Trini, Cherkin, Dan, Haan, Mary, Hammerschlag, Richard, Hao, Jason, Kaplan, George, Lao, Lixing, McKay, Terri, Pierce, Beverly, Riley, David, Ritenbaugh, Cheryl, Thorpe, Kevin, Tunis, Sean, Weissberg, Jed, Berman, Brian, Collaborators
ContributorsInstitute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité University Medical Center, Berlin, Germany, Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA, Patient stakeholder, Group Health Center for Health Studies, Seattle, USA, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, USA, Research Department, Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, Portland, Oregon, USA, International Academy of Scalp Acupuncture, Southwest Acupuncture College, Santa Fe, USA, Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, The Institute for Integrative Health, Community programs, Baltimore, USA, Integrative Medicine, University of New Mexico Medical School, Albuquerque, USA, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, Center for Medical Technology Policy, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, Hospitals, Quality and Care Delivery Excellence, Oakland, USA
PublisherBioMed Central
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeArticle
Rights© 2012 Witt et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
Relationhttp://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/12/148

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