| Methods |
Randomised controlled trial |
| Participants |
29 male Vietnam War combat veterans with DSM‐III PTSD |
| Interventions |
48 x 30‐minute sessions of EMG (n = 15) assisted desensitisation vs no treatment (n = 14) |
| Outcomes |
Nightmare and flashback frequency |
| Notes |
Therapist credentials/experience is not reported. It is unclear whether or not treatment adherence was assessed. |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Comment: The method of sequence generation was not reported. |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Comment: There is no mention of any measures taken to conceal allocation. |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Unclear risk |
Comment: It is unclear if there were any missing data, or how this was handled. |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Low risk |
Comment: All specified outcomes were reported. |
| Other bias |
Unclear risk |
Comment: The study is not well‐reported. It is difficult to judge other sources of bias. |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
Comment: Participants were aware of their allocation. |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Comment: Blind assessors were used. |
