Ivey 2011

Methods	Design: randomised trial of cardiorespiratory training versus usual care ‐ after usual care Randomised: mechanism unknown Allocation concealment: unknown Blinding: unknown ITT: no Measurements: end of intervention (6 months) Withdrawals: 13 participants withdrew at the end of intervention, reasons unknown
Participants	Randomised: 38 participants completed study; 51 may have been randomised Intervention: 19 participants; mean age 61 years (SD 8) Control: 19 participants; mean age 62 years (SD 10) Inclusion criteria: chronic hemiparetic stroke with mild to moderate hemiparetic gait; completed all conventional usual care; still present with residual hemiparetic gait deficits more than 6 months post‐stroke Exclusion criteria: inability for insonation of the middle cerebral artery bilaterally
Interventions	Invention group: treadmill training for 40 minutes 3 times/week for 6 months at a target intensity of 60% to 70% heart rate reserve, initially started with discontinuous training which progressed to continuous Control group: usual care: 13 targeted active and passive supervised stretching movements of the upper and lower body for 30 to 40 minutes 3 times/week for 6 months Setting: rehabilitation unit
Outcomes	Included outcomes: 6‐MWT, peak aerobic capacity during treadmill protocol Other outcomes: middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity bilaterally during normocapnia and hypercapnia (6% CO2)
Notes	—
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	High risk	Mechanism not described, number randomised not clear
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not reported
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Attention control was included
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not reported
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) End of intervention	High risk	ITT analysis not reported There may have been losses after randomisation; up to 13/51 (25%)
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Relationship to trial register entries unclear
Other bias	Unclear risk	Unclear
Imbalanced exposure	Low risk	Matched exposure