Xia 2011.

Methods	Method of randomisation unclear Outcomes blinded
Participants	1 centre in China 120 participants, timing post stroke unclear but suggests acute Dysphagia defined by water swallow test Baseline characteristics similar
Interventions	Rx 1: combined VitalStim therapy + conventional swallowing training (n = 40) Rx 2: VitalStim therapy (n = 40) C: conventional swallowing training (n = 40) For the purpose of this review, treatment group Rx 1 used as the treatment arm only
Outcomes	VFSS, Standardised Swallowing Assessment (SSA), surface EMG, Swallowing Quality of Life (SWAL‐QOL)
Notes	Exclusion criteria not specified
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Randomisation unclear
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Unclear
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Blinding unclear
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Unclear
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Outcomes blinded
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Unclear
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	All outcomes reported
Other bias	Unclear risk	Unclear