Chang 2006
| Methods | Randomised cross‐over design Participants each performed 3 tasks in randomly presented order This study was not designed or presented as a traditional RCT | |
| Participants | 20 participants Inclusion criteria: CT or MRI imaging evidence of single‐hemisphere stroke, arm reaching ability (Fugl‐Meyer assessment > 30), no perceptual‐cognitive dysfunction which limits comprehension of experimental task, no severe concurrent medical problems, no other neurological or orthopaedic conditions affecting arm/trunk movements | |
| Interventions | Each participant performed 3 movement tasks: (1) reaching forward with affected limb (unilateral); (2) reaching forward with both limbs simultaneously (bilateral); (3) reaching forward with both limbs simultaneously + load applied to non‐affected upper limb (bilateral + load) Each movement condition performed for 5 trials with 5‐minute rest between each condition Typical experimental session lasted approximately 40 minutes There was no training period ‐ movement and outcome measurement occurred simultaneously Profession of individual(s) providing training unclear | |
| Outcomes | Secondary outcome: motor impairment: kinematics on completion of elbow flexion ‐ temporal outcomes: movement time, movement velocity, number of movement units and normalised jerk score of movement (movement time selected); spatial outcomes: elbow flexion‐extension range, shoulder flexion‐extension range and trunk linear line value (elbow range selected) | |
| Notes | Data are not available for the first phase only of this study, and it is therefore not included in any analyses The unilateral and bilateral conditions would have been a suitable comparison | |
| Risk of bias | ||
| Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
| Allocation concealment? | Unclear risk | All participants completed training in each condition |
| Blinding of outcome assessor? | Unclear risk | Assessments completed at the same time as the training |
| Intention to treat analysis? | Unclear risk | Not stated |
| Baseline similarity | Unclear risk | Participants not separated into different groups |