Study	Reason for exclusion
Abissi 1995	This abstract described some beneficial effects of a new care pathway but there was inadequate information on the intervention, the methodology of the study, and the results
Alberts 1996	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Allen 2002	This was a randomised trial of interdisciplinary post‐discharge care management, i.e. a community‐based programme
Bokemark 1995	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Chui 1997	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Dignan 1986	The intervention studied was a mixed hospital‐ and community‐based "stroke prgramme". Data were collected from 3 separate groups of hospitals (19 hospitals in total), which had introduced different programmes at different times
Duryee 1996	The treatment group included a period before the intervention had been introduced
Edwards 1996	The participants who had been recruited by this study did not suffer a condition that fulfilled the definition for a stroke
Englander 1998	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Evans 1995	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Friedman 1990	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Goldberg 1997	This was a randomised controlled trial but the intervention was community‐based case management of stroke patients after discharge from hospital
Goldstein 1998	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Hainsworth 1997	Data were collected from 3 separate hospitals that had introduced different care pathways at different times. It was unclear which data belonged to the intervention groups and which belonged to the control groups
Hashimoto 2000	The data for stroke and non‐stroke patients were combined and could not be separated
Horgan 1996	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Ivey 1995	This article described some beneficial effects of a new care pathway but there was inadequate information on the intervention and the methodology of the study
Jahnke 2003	This article described some beneficial effects of a new care pathway but there was inadequate information on the intervention and the methodology of the study
Jungkind 1999	This article described some beneficial effects of a new care pathway but there was inadequate information on the intervention and the methodology of the study
Karanjia 1997	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Lagoe 1997	The control group was inappropriate because it consisted of different hospitals in other states. All data were collected after the introduction of the intervention
Lagoe 1998	This article described some beneficial effects of a new care pathway but there was inadequate information on the intervention and the methodology of the study. All data were collected after the introduction of the intervention
Langhorne 2001	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
MacKenzie 1998	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Moloney 1999	This abstract described some beneficial effects of a new care pathway but there was inadequate information on the intervention, the methodology of the study, and the results
Monane 1996	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Odderson 1995	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway: the care pathway only managed swallowing difficulties after stroke (i.e. not truely mulidisciplinary)
Patel 2001	There is inadequate information on the intervention, methodology of the study, and results
Pearson 1988	This was a randomised controlled trial but the intervention was stroke care within a nursing unit and the intervention did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Quigley 1998	This was an open study of care pathways for both stroke and traumatic brain injury. There was no pre‐care pathway group for comparison. All data were collected after the introduction of the intervention
Ramachandran 1996	All data were collected after the introduction of the intervention
Retchin 1997	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Reuben 1995	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Romito 1990	This article described some beneficial effects of a new care pathway but there was inadequate information on the intervention and the methodology of the study
Rosenberger 1999	This article described some beneficial effects of a new care pathway but there was inadequate information on the intervention and the methodology of the study
Rossiter 1995	The participants who had been recruited by this study did not suffer a condition that fulfilled the definition for a stroke
Schmidt 1999	This was an open study of community‐based nursing case management for stroke, which was delivered through a care pathway
Sulch 2000 (SR)	This was a systematic review containing one randomised controlled trial ‐ Falconer 1993
Summers 1998	All data were collected after the introduction of the intervention
Underwood 1999	There was inadequate definition of the intervention and the methodology of the study
van Straten 1997	All data were collected after the introduction of the intervention
von Reutern 1998	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Wentworth 1996	All data were collected after the introduction of the intervention
Wood‐Dauphinee 1984	The intervention that had been tested in this study did not fulfil the definition criteria for a care pathway
Zander 1988	This article described some beneficial effects of a new care pathway but there was inadequate information on the intervention and the methodology of the study