Application and thinking of cohort study in clinical research of acupuncture and moxibustion

Cohort study has been greatly considered and widely used in clinical research of traditional Chinese medicine in China, but it is seldom applied in the field of acupuncture and moxibustion. This paper introduces the development background, basic concepts, advantages and limitations of cohort study, analyzes the existing problems in the evaluation of acupuncture and moxibustion curative effect and development status of cohort study in the cycle of acupuncture and moxibustion, explores the feasibility and value of such method in clinical research of acupuncture and moxibustion and proposes the methodological suggestions on rigorous design, control of selective bias, control of cohort migration and reduction of loss to follow-up, aiming at broadening the new ideas andmethods for clinical research of acupuncture and moxibustion.