Table 7.
Summary of findings table for the main comparisons.
| SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Effectiveness of assistive devices for upper limb functionality for people with neuromuscular diseases | ||||
| Patient or population: people affected by degenerative neuromuscular diseases | ||||
| Setting: rehabilitation facilities or patients' home | ||||
| Intervention: comparison between use and not use of assistive devices | ||||
| Outcomes | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | Number of subjects (studies) | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | |
| Assumed risk: ADL without assistive devices | Corresponding risk: ADL with assistive devices | |||
| Activity of Daily Living | ADL for the most representative study (Peters et al., 2017): SMD 0.28 (0.10)* | SMD 1.06 higher [0.76 to 1.36 higher] | 184 (14 studies) | ⊕⊕○○ LOW a,b,c |
| •Activity of Daily Living: subgroup analysis between active and passive devices. •Active devices |
ADL for the most representative study (Peters et al., 2017): SMD 0.28 (0.10)* | SMD 1.16 higher [0.71 to 1.62 higher] | 94 (6 studies) | ⊕⊕○○ LOW a,b,c |
| •Activity of Daily Living: subgroup analysis between active and passive devices. •Passive devices |
ADL for the most representative study (Iwamuro et al., 2008): SMD 0.41 (0.27)* | SMD 1.01 higher [0.61 to 1.41 higher] | 274 (11 studies) | ⊕⊕○○ LOW a,b,c |
| •Activity of Daily Living: subgroup analysis between self-perceived and externally assessed scales. •Self-perceived scales |
ADL for the most representative study (van der Heide et al., 2017): SMD 0.38 (0.24)* | SMD 1.38 higher [1.08 to 1.68 higher] | 212 (4 studies) | ⊕⊕⊕○ MODERATE a,b |
| •Activity of Daily Living: subgroup analysis between self-perceived and externally assessed scales. •Externally assessed scales |
ADL for the most representative study (Peters et al., 2017): SMD 0.28 (0.10)* | SMD 0.77 higher [0.42 to 1.11 higher] | 156 (10 studies) | ⊕⊕○○ LOW a,b,c |
The study with the lowest risk of bias and the highest number of participants was chosen. Mean and SD are reported.
ADL, Activities of daily living; CI, Confidence interval; SD, Standard deviation; SMD, Standardized mean difference.
GRADE working group grades of evidence:
High: Further research is very unlikely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect.
Moderate: Further research is likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and may change the estimate.
Low: Further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate.
Very low quality: We are very uncertain about the estimate.
Explanations:.
a. Risk of bias.
b. Imprecision of results.
c. Publication bias.
The four circles represent the maximum level of evidence (i.e., high, corresponding to four points). Each analysis is associated with its found level of evidence, represented by the circle marked with a cross. Indeed, “low” is represented by 2 points over 4, “moderate” 3 points over 4.