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Table 1 Nine items for reporting assessment on CHM-related information

From: Reporting quality of Cochrane systematic reviews with Chinese herbal medicines

Item 1: Whether a specific name of the CHM intervention(s) was reported in “Title” section?

Item 2: Whether the CHM-related rationale was included in the “Introduction/Background” section?

Item 3: Whether the Chinese database(s) and/or journals was included in the search strategy in “Information source”?

Item 4: Whether the TCM diagnostic criteria (e.g., TCM pattern/syndrome) was included in the “Eligibility criteria for participants”?

Item 5: Whether TCM-related outcomes (e.g., pattern scores) were included in the “Eligibility criteria for outcome measures”?

Item 6: Whether the CHM intervention details, including composition and dosage, type, dosage form, source, administration route, time of administration, and quality control of the CHM were reported in the “Characteristics of included studies” section? For comparison, whether the details of controls were reported?

Item 7: Whether the CHM characteristics were considered in the subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis or other analysis of clinical heterogeneity in “Additional analyses” section?

Item 8: Whether the heterogeneity of CHM formula, such as composition and dosage, has been fully considered when doing the data synthesis, especially about the meta-analysis?

Item 9: Whether the relevant TCM theory was reported in the “Discussion” section?