1. Table of comparisons.
| Included studies | Experimental group | Control group |
| Celnik 2008 | 1. Congruent AO simultaneous to PP of thumb movements 2. Incongruent AO simultaneous to PP of thumb movements |
PP of thumb movements |
| Cowles 2013 | Conventional PT + AO with OTI followed by PP | Conventional PT |
| Dettmers 2014 | AO of typical activities of daily living followed by PP (home‐based intervention) | 1. Placebo group: text observation followed by PP of typical activities of daily living 2. Usual care: no specific training. |
| Ertelt 2007 | AO of daily life hand and arm actions followed by PP | Placebo group: observation of geometric symbols and letters followed by PP of daily life hand and arm actions |
| Franceschini 2012 | Conventional PT + AO of typical activities of daily living followed by PP | Placebo group: conventional PT + observation of objects followed by limb movements (exact order as experimental group) |
| Fu 2017 | Traditional rehabilitation treatment + AO with OTI | Traditional rehabilitation treatment + observation of geometric patterns and digit symbol and performed one action |
| Harmsen 2015 | AO of mirrored arm‐reaching activity from unaffected arm, alternated with affected‐arm reaching movements | Placebo group: observation of static photographs of landscapes, alternated with affected‐arm reaching movements |
| Kim 2015 | OT + purposeful AO program | Placebo group: OT + purposeful AO program assignments without actually observing the purposeful actions |
| Kim 2016a | AO of functional tasks followed by PP of the same movements | PP of functional tasks |
| Kuk 2016 | AO of an action similar to BBT followed by PP of the same movements | Placebo group: observation of landscapes followed by PP of an action similar to BBT |
| Lee 2013 | 1. AO: AO of drinking behavior simultaneous to action imagination 2. AO + action practice: AO of drinking behavior followed by PP |
1. Action practice: PP of drinking behavior 2. Control: no specific training. |
| Zhu 2015 | PT + OT + DT + AO of upper limb movements followed by PP | PT + OT + DT |
AO: action observation BBT: Box and Block test DT: drug treatment OT: occupational therapy OTI: observation‐to‐imitate PP: physical practice PT: physical therapy