Data collection and analysis
Two reviewers identified potentially eligible trials from the
search. Full copies of these trials were attained and again
screened for eligibility. Any disagreement between the two
reviewers was resolved by a third independent reviewer. If
trials were reported in more than one publication, only data
from the key publication were included.
The following data were independently extracted by
two reviewers: details about the subjects (including classification
according to the International Standards for
the Classification of SCI, time since injury and number),
intervention/s (including type, dosage and duration),
outcomes (including type, number and data collection
points) and the statistical significance of between-group
differences (as stated by trial authors). In all trials, data
collected at the beginning and at the end of the intervention
period were extracted. The exception was the study by Crowe
et al.,10 where the post-intervention data were collected 6
weeks after the intervention period for all but one outcome.
In trials with more than two groups, only data from the two
most contrasting groups were extracted.