Table 5. Methodological quality of included trials (n=13).

	No. of trials (%)
Quality indicator	Yes, fulfilled	No	Unclear
Method of randomisation	13 (100%)	—	—
Adequate concealment of allocation	5 (38%)	—	8 (62%)
Groups similar at baseline:
Gender	10 (77%)	—	3 (23%)
Age	6 (46%)	3 (23%)	4 (31%)
Functional status	6 (46%)	1 (8%)	6 (46%)
Emotional distress	8 (62%)	1 (8%)	4 (31%)
Key outcome measures	9 (69%)	1 (8%)	3 (23%)
Cointerventions:
Cointerventions avoided by trial design	3 (23%)	10 (77%)	—
Cointerventions monitored	4 (31%)	—	9 (69%)
Compliance monitored and acceptable	6 (46%)	—	7 (54%)
Blinded outcome assessment for at least one key outcome	—	13 (100%)	—
Relevant outcome measures	13 (100%)	—	—
Withdrawal/dropout rate:
N and reasons described	7 (54%)	—	6 (46%)
% lost ⩽20% or comparable between groups	4 (31%)	2 (15%)	7 (54%)
Comparable timing of outcome assessment in both groups	13 (100%)	—	—
Intention-to-treat analyses explicitly stated	4 (31%)	3 (23%)	6 (46%)