Inclusion criteria
The inclusion criteria were as follows:
Type of trials: Randomized controlled trials written in
English. Crossover trials were included provided allocation
to the treatment schedule was randomized. In trials that
randomly allocated subjects to experimental groups but
included data from non-randomized control conditions,7
only data from the randomized groups were included.
Type of participants: Trials in which at least 75% of
participants had sustained a SCI. There were no restrictions
on the basis of time since injury, type of injury or age.
Type of interventions: Trials involving the administration of a
physical intervention typically provided by health-care
professionals. Only trials that involved a treatment administered
over more than one occasion were included. In trials
that looked at the effects of one-off treatments as well the
effects of a series of treatments,8,9 only the data reflecting the
response to the series of treatments were included. Trials
that examined the effectiveness of providing education or
equipment were excluded, as were trials directed at respiratory
care or skin management.
Type of comparisons: Trials comparing a physical
intervention with control (including sham) or no
intervention and trials comparing two or more physical
interventions.
Types of outcomes: All physical and non-physical outcome
measures were included.