Table 3.
Risk of bias assessment of randomised controlled studies
| Cowan et al33 | Chiao et al37 | Mergenova et al35 | Go et al34 | Kerrigan et al41 | |
| Domain | Judgement | ||||
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) | Low | Low | Unclear | Low | Unclear |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) | Low | Unclear | Unclear | Low | Unclear |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) | Low | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Low |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) (self-reported outcomes) | Unclear | Low | (N/A) | Unclear | Low |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) (objective measures) | Low | Low | (N/A) | Low | Low |
| Incomplete outcome data addressed (attrition bias) | Low | Low | Unclear | Low | Unclear |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) | Unclear | Low | High | Low | Low |
| Other bias | Unclear | Low | High | High | Unclear |
N/A, not applicable.