| Methods |
Randomised by opaque envelopes prepared by independent person |
| Participants |
60 patients (three arms) included one month after first‐time lumbar disc surgery. Aged between 20 and 50 years. Only short‐term follow‐up |
| Interventions |
(I1, N = 20) intensive exercise programme and back school education under supervision for eight weeks; three days a week with sessions of 1.5 hours each. (I2, N = 20) back education and McKenzie and Williams exercise in home programme for eight weeks; advice to practice three days/wk. (C, N = 20) no treatment |
| Outcomes |
RTW in days (I1) 56.07 (18.66) versus (I2) 75.0 (24.9) versus (C) 86.2 (27.1). Pain (post‐treatment score on VAS): (I1) 4.5 (1.6) versus (I2) 12.0 (3.7) versus (C) 13.3 (7.3). Functional status (post‐treatment scores on Modified Oswestry): (I1) 7.1 (4.9) versus (I2) 11.7 versus (C) 15.1 (8.6) |
| Notes |
|
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Low risk |
Randomised opaque envelopes prepared by independent person |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Low risk |
Sheets of opaque paper, folded and taped from the corners, put in a box |
| Blinding (performance bias and detection bias)
All outcomes ‐ patients? |
High risk |
Intensive exercise versus home exercise |
| Blinding (performance bias and detection bias)
All outcomes ‐ care providers? |
High risk |
Intensive exercise versus home exercise |
| Blinding (performance bias and detection bias)
All outcomes ‐ outcome assessors? |
High risk |
Patient reported |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes ‐ drop‐outs? |
Unclear risk |
Unclear from text |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes ‐ ITT analysis? |
Unclear risk |
Dropouts, if any, not reported |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Low risk |
VAS, ODI, LBPRS |
| Similarity of baseline characteristics? |
Low risk |
Table 1 |
| Co‐interventions avoided or similar? |
Unclear risk |
Unclear from text |
| Compliance acceptable? |
Unclear risk |
Unclear from text |
| Timing outcome assessments similar? |
Low risk |
Eight weeks (post‐treatment) |
