Current status and fundamental strategies for clinical research on acupuncture and moxibustion

This paper aims to explore the fundamental strategies based on the current status for clinical research on acupuncture and moxibustion.We hold that some problems exist in acupuncture and moxibustion research: mechanical application of concepts in western medicine research in acupuncture and moxibustion research,simplified clinical research.The characteristics of acupuncture and moxibustion research should be considered,the key questions on clinical evaluation should be answered,and the superiority,equivalence and non-inferiority design should be applied scientifically in clinical research on acupuncture and moxibustion in the future.It is hopeful to improve the quality of clinical research on acupuncture and moxibustion by establishing new methods in accordance with the characteristics of clinical acupuncture and moxibustion researches.