How Well Do Randomized Controlled Trials Reflect Standard Care: A Comparison between Scientific Research Data and Standard Care Data in Patients with Intermittent Claudication undergoing Supervised Exercise Therapy.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The aim of the present study was to assess the degree and impact of patient selection of patients with intermittent claudication undergoing supervised exercise therapy in Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) by describing commonly used exclusion criteria, and by comparing baseline characteristics and treatment response measured as improvement in maximum walking distance of patients included in RCTs and patients treated in standard care.

Methods

We compared data from RCTs with unselected standard care data. First, we systematically reviewed RCTs that investigated the effect of supervised exercise therapy in patients with intermittent claudication. For each of the RCTs, we extracted and categorized the eligibility criteria and their justifications. To assess whether p

SUBMITTER: Dorenkamp S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4919097 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature