Table 1

Time points of treatment assessment

Time point	Enrolment	Baseline	Treatment phase		Follow-up phase
Time point	Week -1	Week 0	Week 2	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8
Screening and enrolment
Clinical interview	×
Laboratory test	×			×
Eligibility screen	×
Informed consent	×
Randomisation		×
Interventions
Acupuncture			16 sessions treatment
Sham acupuncture			16 sessions treatment
Waiting-list			No acupuncture treatment
Assessments
Primary outcome
UAS7		×	×	×	×	×	×	×
Secondary outcomes
VAS for itch-severity		×	×	×	×	×	×	×
DLQI		×	×	×	×	×	×	×
HAMD		×		×		×		×
HAMA		×		×		×		×
PSQI		×		×				×
Serum total IgE		×		×
Others
Adverse events			×	×	×	×	×	×
Blinding assessment			×*	×
Expectancy questionnaire		×
Treatment effects self-assessment				×
Patients’ compliance				×
Medicine alliance		×	×	×	×	×	×	×

*Assessed after the first session of acupuncture treatment.
DLQI, Dermatology Life Quality Index; HAMA, Hamilton Anxiety Scale; HAMD, Hamilton Depression Scale; IgE, imunoglobulin E; PSQI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; UAS7, Urticaria Activity Score for 7 consecutive days; VAS, visual analogue scale.