Methodological Quality of Motor Intervention Randomized Controlled Trials in Stroke Rehabilitation.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of the study was to evaluate the methodological quality of motor intervention randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in the stroke rehabilitation literature and to examine trends in quality over time.


METHODS
A systematic literature search was conducted for all English articles (published up to December 2013) examining rehabilitation for motor recovery poststroke. All RCTs with a human sample, of which at least 50% had a stroke, were included in the analysis. A Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) score was assigned to assess methodological quality. A one-way analysis of variance was conducted to examine adherence to quality items overall and over time, with post hoc t-tests performed where appropriate.


RESULTS
Six hundred seventy-six RCTs met inclusion criteria, of which 32.0% had excellent, 42.0% good, 23.1% fair, and 3.0% poor methodological qualities. The overall mean PEDro score was 6.6 ± 1.6; with scores improving significantly between 1979-1983 and 2009-2013 (5.0 ± 1.4 versus 7.0 ± 1.5; P = .0003); however, no significant improvements in individual items were found (P > .05).


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed improvements in the total methodological quality of motor intervention RCTs in stroke rehabilitation over time. However, no relationship was found between individual quality items and improvement over time.
Lawson Health Research Institute, Parkwood Institute, London, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: Amanda.McIntyre@sjhc.london.on.ca.
Amanda
A
McIntyre
Lawson Health Research Institute, Parkwood Institute, London, Ontario, Canada.
Nerissa
N
Campbell
Lawson Health Research Institute, Parkwood Institute, London, Ontario, Canada.
Julianne
J
Vermeer
Lawson Health Research Institute, Parkwood Institute, London, Ontario, Canada.
Rachel
R
Mays
Lawson Health Research Institute, Parkwood Institute, London, Ontario, Canada.
Shannon
S
Janzen
Lawson Health Research Institute, Parkwood Institute, London, Ontario, Canada; St. Joseph's Healthcare, Parkwood Institute, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Robert
R
Teasell
D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation
Stroke; intervention; motor; randomized controlled trial; rehabilitation; therapy