| Study characteristics |
| Methods |
RCT |
| Participants |
People with acute stroke within 7 days of onset |
| Interventions |
Combined service continuum linking 2 acute and 2 rehabilitation stroke wards (n = 166) vs conventional care in general medical ward (n = 83) |
| Outcomes |
Death, dependency (Barthel Index), place of residence, satisfaction, length of hospital stay up to 1 year |
| Notes |
– |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Low risk |
"Serially numbered sealed envelopes (randomization in blocks of 10)" |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Low risk |
Adequate allocation concealment |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes |
Unclear risk |
Difficult to conceal |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Blinded outcome assessment |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
All dichotomous outcomes reported, but proportionately more follow‐up assessments missing in control group (7/83) than in intervention group (6/166) |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Low risk |
All pre‐specified outcomes reported |
