Table 3.
A summary of the quality of the evidence using the GRADE approach
| Quality assessment | Summary of findings | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No of studies | Risk of bias | Imprecision | Inconsistency | Indirectness | Publication bias | No of participants | Pooled standardised mean difference (95% confidence intervals) | Quality of evidence |
| Pain for intermediate term | ||||||||
| 2 | Serious risk of bias, indicating downgraded on level due to there was more than 25% of participants from studies |
Very serious imprecision due to very limited sample sizes (fewer than 400 participants), and no significant difference rate down two levels Significant |
Very Serious Downgraded two levels due to I2 > 75%, rate down two levels |
Not serious Indirectness, do not downgrade |
Undetected | 300 |
-1.38 (-2.78 to 0.02) |
⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW |
| Pain for long term | ||||||||
| 2 | Serious risk of bias, indicating downgraded on level due to there was more than 25% of participants from studies |
Very serious imprecision due to very limited sample sizes (fewer than 400 participants), and no significant difference rate down two levels Significant |
Serious Downgraded one level due to I2 > 50%, rate down one level |
Not serious Indirectness, do not downgrade |
Undetected | 300 |
-1.01 (-1.92 to -0.10) |
⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW |
| Disability/functional status for intermediate term | ||||||||
| 3 | Serious risk of bias, indicating downgraded on level due to there was more than 25% of participants from studies |
Serious imprecision due to very limited sample sizes (fewer than 400 participants), rate down one level Significant |
Very Serious Downgraded two levels due to I2 > 75%, rate down two levels |
Serious Downgraded one level due to different sample |
Undetected | 333 |
-0.76 (-1.46 to -0.07) |
⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW |
| Disability/functional status for long term | ||||||||
| 2 | Serious risk of bias, indicating downgraded on level due to there was more than 25% of participants from studies |
Serious imprecision due to very limited sample sizes (fewer than 400 participants), rate down one level Significant |
Serious Downgraded one level due to I2 > 50%, rate down one level |
Not serious Indirectness, do not downgrade |
Undetected | 300 |
-8.48 (-11.47 to -5.49) |
⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW |
| Fear of physical activity for intermediate term | ||||||||
| 2 | Serious risk of bias, indicating downgraded on level due to there was more than 25% of participants from studies |
Serious imprecision due to very limited sample sizes (fewer than 400 participants), rate down one level Significant |
Serious Downgraded one level due to I2 > 50%, rate down one level |
Not serious Indirectness, do not downgrade |
undetected | 300 |
-3.01 (-5.14 to -0.88) |
⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW |
| Fear of physical activity for long term | ||||||||
| 2 | Serious risk of bias, indicating downgraded on level due to there was more than 25% of participants from studies |
Serious imprecision due to very limited sample sizes (fewer than 400 participants), rate down one level Significant |
Very Serious Downgraded two levels due to I2 > 75%, rate down two levels |
Not serious Indirectness, do not downgrade |
Undetected | 300 |
-3.56 (-6.43 to -0.68) |
⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW |