Table 1.

Sources of Risk of Bias

1. Was the method of randomization adequate?

2. Was the treatment allocation concealed?

3. Was the patient blinded to the intervention?

4. Was the care provider blinded by the intervention?

5. Was the outcome assessor blinded to the intervention?

6. Was the dropout rate described and acceptable?

7. Were all randomized participants analyzed in the group to which they were allocated?

8. Are reports of the study free of suggestion of selective outcome reporting?

9. Were the groups similar at baseline regarding the most important prognostic indicators?

10. Were co-interventions avoided or similar?

11. Was the compliance acceptable in all groups?

12. Was the timing of the outcome assessment similar in all groups?

Adapted from Furlan et al.⁹