Boggio 2007a.
| Methods | Study design: randomised sham‐controlled cross‐over trial Dropouts: none Adverse effects: none Deaths: none ITT: yes Duration: 16 weeks |
|
| Participants | Country: Brazil Number of participants: 4 Age: (mean ± SD) 60.75 ± 13.15 years Gender: 0 female Type of stroke: not described, most likely ischaemic stroke Time poststroke: (mean ± SD) 34.5 ± 27.74 months Severity: mean muscle strength of the finger flexors (MRC) 3.8; mean ASS 0.5 Inclusion criteria: not clearly stated, but all participants had chronic, subcortical stroke, were right‐handed and had their stroke at least 12 months before study enrolment Exclusion criteria: not stated |
|
| Interventions | Characteristics: 4 weekly sessions of A‐tDCS (1 mA) over the hand area of M1 of the lesioned hemisphere, or C‐tDCS (1 mA) over the hand area of M1 of the non‐lesioned hemisphere or sham tDCS over the hand area of M1 of the lesioned hemisphere for 20 minutes with at least 2 weeks of rest between stimulation conditions | |
| Outcomes | Outcomes used: duration of JTT in seconds Time point(s) of measurement: at baseline, after the first and after the fourth session of each treatment condition |
|
| Notes | ||
| Risk of bias | ||
| Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) | Unclear risk | Procedure not described, quote: "The order of these conditions was counterbalanced and randomised across subjects" |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) | Unclear risk | Not described |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) Subjective outcome measures | Low risk | There were no subjective outcome measures |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) Objective outcome measures | Low risk | Participants were blinded; blinding of personnel was not described |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) Subjective outcome measures | Low risk | There were no subjective outcome measures |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) Objective outcome measures | Low risk | Quote: "A blinded rater evaluated motor function using the Jebsen‐Taylor Hand Function Test" |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) Subjective outcome measures | Low risk | There were no subjective outcome measures |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) Objective outcome measures | Low risk | All participants apparently completed the study. No treatment withdrawals, no losses to follow‐up, no trial group changes and no major adverse events were stated |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) | Unclear risk | All outcomes reported in the methods section reported |