Comparison 1. Swallowing therapy.

Outcome or subgroup title	No. of studies	No. of participants	Statistical method	Effect size
1 Functional outcome ‐ death or dependency, death or disability at end of trial	2	306	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	1.05 [0.63, 1.75]
1.1 Behavioural interventions	2	306	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	1.05 [0.63, 1.75]
2 Case fatality at end of trial	14	766	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	1.00 [0.66, 1.52]
2.1 Behavioural interventions	2	306	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.83 [0.46, 1.51]
2.2 Drug therapy	3	148	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	1.40 [0.31, 6.28]
2.3 Pharyngeal electrical stimulation	4	215	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.92 [0.38, 2.26]
2.4 Physical stimulation (thermal, tactile)	1	19	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	1.05 [0.16, 6.92]
2.5 Transcranial magnetic stimulation	4	78	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.28 [0.03, 2.93]
3 Length of inpatient stay (days)	8	577	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐2.90 [‐5.65, ‐0.15]
3.1 Behavioural interventions	4	370	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐2.70 [‐5.68, 0.28]
3.2 Pharyngeal electrical stimulation	4	207	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐6.05 [‐16.40, 4.31]
4 Proportion of participants with dysphagia at end of trial	23	1487	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.42 [0.32, 0.55]
4.1 Acupuncture	8	676	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.31 [0.20, 0.49]
4.2 Behavioural interventions	6	511	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.45 [0.28, 0.74]
4.3 Drug therapy	1	17	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.48 [0.07, 3.35]
4.4 Neuromuscular electrical stimulation	2	76	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.51 [0.18, 1.49]
4.5 Pharyngeal electrical stimulation	3	66	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.55 [0.15, 2.11]
4.6 Physical stimulation (thermal, tactile)	2	127	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.65 [0.07, 5.85]
4.7 Transcranial direct current stimulation	1	14	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.29 [0.01, 8.39]
5 Swallowing ability	26	1173	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.66 [‐1.01, ‐0.32]
5.1 Acupuncture	6	496	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.55 [‐1.20, 0.11]
5.2 Behavioural intervention	3	121	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.56 [‐1.07, ‐0.05]
5.3 Drug therapy	1	71	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.46 [‐0.93, 0.01]
5.4 Neuromuscular electrical stimulation	2	100	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐1.34 [‐3.39, 0.71]
5.5 Pharyngeal electrical stimulation	3	194	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.06 [‐0.22, 0.34]
5.6 Physical stimulation (thermal, tactile)	1	16	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.30 [‐1.29, 0.68]
5.7 Transcranial direct current stimulation	2	34	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.33 [‐2.22, 1.56]
5.8 Transcranial magnetic stimulation	8	141	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐1.29 [‐2.37, ‐0.21]
6 Penetration aspiration score	11	303	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.37 [‐0.74, ‐0.00]
6.1 Behavioural intervention	1	27	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.88 [‐1.68, ‐0.08]
6.2 Neuromuscular electrical stimulation	1	18	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.57 [‐0.38, 1.52]
6.3 Pharyngeal electrical stimulation	4	177	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.17 [‐0.53, 0.19]
6.4 Transcranial magnetic stimulation	5	81	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.53 [‐1.22, 0.16]
7 Chest infection or pneumonia	9	618	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.36 [0.16, 0.78]
7.1 Behavioural interventions	6	473	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.56 [0.31, 1.00]
7.2 Drug therapy	1	60	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.06 [0.01, 0.21]
7.3 Neuromuscular electrical stimulation	1	57	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.0 [0.0, 0.0]
7.4 Pharyngeal electrical stimulation	1	28	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.43 [0.06, 3.09]
8 Pharyngeal transit time (seconds)	6	187	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.23 [‐0.32, ‐0.15]
8.1 Drug therapy	1	17	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.21 [‐0.91, 0.49]
8.2 Neuromuscular electrical stimulation	3	126	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.23 [‐0.39, ‐0.08]
8.3 Pharyngeal electrical stimulation	1	28	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.15 [‐0.67, 0.37]
8.4 Physical stimulation (thermal, tactile)	1	16	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.19 [‐0.34, ‐0.04]
9 Institutionalisation	3	447	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.75 [0.47, 1.19]
9.1 Behavioural interventions	2	306	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.76 [0.39, 1.48]
9.2 Pharyngeal electrical stimulation	1	141	Odds Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.73 [0.36, 1.48]
10 Nutritional (albumin)	3	169	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.37 [‐1.50, 2.24]
10.1 Behavioural interventions	2	64	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.20 [‐4.77, 5.17]
10.2 Pharyngeal electrical stimulation	1	105	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.40 [‐1.62, 2.42]