title: Outcomes in randomized controlled trials of exercise interventions in solid organ transplant.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the outcome measures that have been used in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of exercise training in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients and to link these outcomes to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electronic literature searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Science were performed. We sought RCTs that investigated the effect of exercise training in SOT recipients. Reference lists of all eligible publications were searched for other appropriate studies not identified by the electronic search. A complete list of outcome measures used in the RCTs was generated and each of these was linked to an ICF category.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four hundred and thirteen articles were retrieved, of which 35 met our inclusion criteria. The studies included were designed to compare the effects of exercise training programs to usual care or to another exercise training program and reported on recipients of heart (n= 21), kidney (n= 9), lung (n= 3) or liver (n= 2) transplant. Of the 126 outcome measures identified, 62 were used as primary outcome measures. The most commonly occurring primary outcomes were aerobic capacity using the peak VO2(n= 13), quality of life using the short-form-36 (n= 8), and muscle strength (n= 7). These outcome measures were linked to 113 ICF categories and the majority of outcomes fall into the body function domain (n= 93).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is little standardization in outcome measures used in RCTs of exercise interventions in SOT recipients. The ICF framework can be used to select a core set of outcomes that cross all domains of ICF and that would be appropriate to all SOT recipients.
authors.affiliation: Tania Janaudis-Ferreira, Sunita Mathur, Canadian National Transplant Research Program, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada.
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Janaudis-Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Tania Janaudis-Ferreira, Sunita Mathur, Canadian National Transplant Research Program, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada.
authors.forename: Sunita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.affiliation: Tania Janaudis-Ferreira, Sunita Mathur, Canadian National Transplant Research Program, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada.
authors.forename: Stacey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Konidis
authors.affiliation: Tania Janaudis-Ferreira, Sunita Mathur, Canadian National Transplant Research Program, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada.
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Tansey
authors.affiliation: Tania Janaudis-Ferreira, Sunita Mathur, Canadian National Transplant Research Program, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada.
authors.forename: Cecile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beaurepaire
keywords: Exercise; International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health; Outcome measures; Rehabilitation; Solid organ transplantation; Systematic review