Affiliations: [a] Parkwood Institute Research, Parkwood Institute, London, ON, Canada
| [b] St. Joseph’s Health Care, Parkwood Institute, London, ON, Canada
| [c] Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Amanda McIntyre, PhD (c) RN MSc, Parkwood Institute Research B3-123C, Parkwood Institute Main Building, St. Josephs Health Care London, 550 Wellington Road, London, Ontario, Canada. Tel.: +1 519 685 4292/Ext. 41296; E-mail: Amanda.McIntyre@sjhc.london.on.ca.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Stroke rehabilitation research is important for informing clinical practice and directing health care resources. OBJECTIVE:To examine how motor- and cognitive-based stroke rehabilitation randomized controlled trials (RCTs) vary by world region, overall and over time, with respect to 1) publication volume, 2) sample size, and 3) methodological quality. METHODS:Using the Evidence-Based Review of Stroke Rehabilitation (EBRSR), all motor- and cognitive-based stroke rehabilitation RCTs were identified. The following data were extracted: first author, year of publication, country of origin, and sample size. Countries were categorized into seven regions, as defined by the World Bank. RESULTS:In total 1410 motor-based RCTs and 293 cognitive-based RCTs were published between 1972–2018. For motor RCTs, the East Asia/Pacific region accounted for the largest volume of RCTs (n = 530; 37.6%), followed closely by the Europe/Central Asia region (n = 445; 31.6%). Conversely, the largest producer for cognitive RCTs was Europe/Central Asia (n = 167; 57.0%), followed by East Asia/Pacific (n = 62; 21.2%). For both motor and cognitive RCTs, there was no significant difference between world regions with respect to mean sample size or methodological quality. CONCLUSIONS:Efforts should be directed towards improving methodological quality and increasing sample sizes of stroke rehabilitation-related studies.
