Chinese Herbal Medicine in the Treatment of Chronic Heart Failure: Three-Stage Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Table 5

The timeline of participants’ course through Stage Three.

Items	Baseline	Treatment
	Visit 1	Visit 2	Visit 3
	0 weeks	2 weeks	4 weeks
Inclusion/exclusion	•
Informed consent	•
Grouping	•
Medical history collection	•
General information	•
Medication history	•
Physical examination	•
Complicating diseases	•
Drug release	•	•
TCM syndrome scores	•		•
NYHA functional classification	•		•
6-minute walk test	•		•
LVEF	•		•
X-ray	•
Routine urine test	•		•
Liver function test	•		•
Renal function test	•		•
Electrolytes	•		•
Electrocardiogram	•		•
Feasibility			•
Cost-effectiveness analysis			•
Compliance			•
Universality			•
Side effect		•	•