1. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants in included trials.
| Study | Participants | Female/male | Age (years) Mean (SD) |
Disease duration (months) Mean (SD) |
Site of onset (spinal/bulbar) |
El Escorial category (definite/probable) |
ALSFRS‐R score Mean (SD) |
|||||||
| real | sham | real | sham | real | sham | real | sham | real | sham | real | sham | real | sham | |
| Di Lazarro 2006 | N = 10 | N = 10 | unclear | unclear | unclear | unclear | 15.3 (8.2) | 14.8 (8.9) | unclear | unclear | N = 10/0 | N =10/0 | 38.3 (7.5) | 37.93 (7.9) |
| Di Lazarro 2009 | N =10 | N = 10 | N = 2/8 | N = 3/7 | 60.2 (6.7) | 55.1 (14.0) | 32.2 (18.3) | 31.4 (18.6) | N = 8/2 | N = 7/3 | N = 4/6 | N = 4/6 | 32.0 (7.1) | 31.3 (6.9) |
| Zanette 2008 | N = 5 | N = 5 | N = 1/4 | N = 2/3 | 59.4 (9.2) | 60.2 (8.7) | 11.4 (3.0) | 12.2 (4.0) | N = 3/2 | N = 3/2 | unclear | unclear | 36.0 (3.4) | 34.4 (2.3) |
ALSFRS: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale; SD: standard deviation.