Impact of quality scales on levels of evidence inferred from a systematic review of exercise therapy and low back pain

Ref ID 261
First Author F. Colle
Journal ARCHIVES OF PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION
Year Of Publishing 2002
URL https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12474181/
Keywords Cochrane
Risk of bias
Physiotherapy
Problem(s) Flawed risk of bias undertaken
Number of systematic reviews included 1
Summary of Findings Re-analysing 20 trials from one published systematic review using 16 different quality assessment scales found that two of the 3 main results of the systematic review were influenced by the scale used. There was conflicting evidence on the effectiveness of exercise therapy compared with inactive treatments; strong evidence that exercise therapy is more effective than usual care by a general practitioner. The use of summary scores to identify physical therapy trials of high quality is questionable.
Did the article find that the problem(s) led to qualitative changes in interpretation of the results? Yes
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study? Yes