Table 2.
Assessment of risk of bias
| RCTs | Adequate sequence generation? | Allocation concealment? | Blinding (of outcome assessors)? | Incomplete outcome data addressed? | Overall assessment of risk of bias |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Krugman et al19 | Unclear | Unclear | Yes | Unclear | Uncertain |
| De Miranda et al20 | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | No | High |
| Stipancic et al21 | No | No | Unclear | Unclear | High |
| Sorensen et al22 | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Yes | Uncertain |
| Simpson and Dryden23 | No | No | Unclear | Unclear | High |
| Pre-post study designs | Reporting (10 items) | External validity (3 items) | Internal validity: bias & confounding (13 items) | Power (1 item) | Total score (27 items) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Einspruch and Forman24 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Timpany25 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| Konefal and Duncan26 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| Gray27 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Bigley et al28 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 13 |
RCT = randomised controlled trial.