Table 2.

Methodologic quality* of the included studies

Study	Adequate randomization?	Allocation concealment?	Blinding patients?	Blinding caregiver?	Blinding outcome assessors?	Incomplete outcome data addressed? Dropouts	Incomplete outcome data? Intention-to-treat analysis?	No selective outcome reporting?
Gerdesmeyer et al. [9]	+	+	+	−	+	+	−	+
Albert et al. [1]	+	+	+	?	?	+	+	+
Pleiner et al. [21]	?	?	+	−	+	+	−	+
Rompe et al. [22]	?	?	?	?	?	+	−	+
Loew et al. [17]	+	?	?	?	?	+	−	+

* = quality criteria of Furlan et al. [8]; + = yes = 1 point; − = no = 0 points; ? unclear/unsure = 0 points; high-quality = greater than 50%;

low-quality = less than 50%.