Potempa 1995

Methods	Design: randomised trial of cardiorespiratory training versus non‐exercise intervention ‐ after usual care Randomisation: unknown Allocation concealment: unknown Blinding: unknown ITT: no Measurements: end of intervention (10 weeks) Withdrawals: none
Participants	Randomised: 42 participants Intervention: 19 participants; 8 males and 11 females Control: 23 participants; 15 males and 8 females All participants aged 43 to 70 years and were 216 days post‐stroke (SD 43) All participants had upper and lower limb hemiparesis Inclusion criteria: medically stable; at least 6 months post‐stroke; completed formal rehabilitation Exclusion criteria: patients with brain stem lesions; any clinical evidence that would preclude maximal exercise testing
Interventions	Intervention: cardiorespiratory training: cycle ergometer training for 30 minutes per day 3 days per week for 10 weeks; intensity 30% to 50% of maximal effort increasing to maximum sustainable over first 4 weeks Control: non‐exercise intervention: passive range of motion exercises for 30 minutes per day 3 days per week for 10 weeks Setting: unknown
Outcomes	Included outcomes: blood pressure; maximum cycling work rate (Watts) Other outcomes: heart rate at rest and during maximal exercise; respiratory exchange rate and other respiratory variables; exercise duration; Fugl Meyer score
Notes	Variance reported as standard error and converted to standard deviation.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not reported
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not reported
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Attention control
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not reported
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) End of intervention	Low risk	ITT not reported No losses
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Protocol not available
Other bias	Unclear risk	Unclear
Imbalanced exposure	Low risk	Balanced exposure