Investigation and Analysis of International Demands for Development of Acupuncture-moxibustion Technical Specifications and General Rules for Drafting

<title>Abstract</title> Background To investigate and analysis of international demands of Chinese and international experts for the development of A cupuncture-moxibustion t echnical s pecifications and G eneral r ules for d rafting.Methods The target of the study was selected from experts in the field of acupuncture-moxibustion standardization and from some acupuncture-moxibustion experts. Questionnaire was developed through Questionnaire Star (wjx.cn). 187 links of target-oriented online questionnaires were sent via E-mail. 102 valid questionnaires returned. Excel was adopted to establish database and analyze the statistics.Results 98.04% of the experts hold that it is necessary to develop the international standard, the Technical Specification of Acupuncture-moxibustion: General Rules for Drafting . A survey on the scope of the existing standards shows that demands of experts inside and outside Chinese mainland are slightly different. Standards of the Chinese mainland highlight commonality. While countries/regions outside the Chinese mainland emphasize on individuality. All experts (inside and outside the Chinese mainland) reach the consensus that importance shall be attached to the common issues concerning acupuncture-moxibustion application process. However, wide discrepancy is found in 3 aspects in terms of ‘relevant terminology’, ‘pre-operative preparation’ and ‘adverse reactions and contraindications’.Conclusions There is a great international demand for developing the international standard of the Technical Specification of Acupuncture-moxibustion: General Rules for Drafting . Ensuring the accuracy of the common problems during the development process, demands of different countries/regions shall be fully considered. Effort shall be given in balance between refining the common problems and meeting the special demands, so as to enhance the international compatibility and applicability.