The Reporting of Somatic Sensory Training Interventions in Individuals After a Stroke Is Suboptimal: A Systematic Review and Meta-research Study

Objective: The purpose of this systematic review is to assess adherence to the "template for intervention description and replication" checklist among all published randomized controlled trials of sensory retraining strategies for patients with a history of stroke.

Methods: Medline, the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database were investigated, without time restrictions, until September 1, 2021. In addition, a search for additional studies was carried out using the included studies' reference list. Only randomized controlled trials of adults with a history of stroke who aimed to improve sensation, via any type of intervention, were included. The template for intervention description and replication checklist was used to assess the completeness of reporting on each intervention.

Results: A total of 61 trials were included. None of the included studies declared to have used the template for intervention description and replication checklist to report interventions. Overall, the median percentage of adherence to the 12 items of the template for intervention description and replication was 33% (interquartile range, 25%-50%). Only five of the single items were adequately described in more than 50% of the studies. None of the randomized controlled trials reported the entirety of the core intervention components, as described in items 3 to 9.

Conclusions: This systematic review demonstrates that interventions in sensory retraining strategy trials are described below desirable standards. Without this information, clinicians and researchers cannot reliably replicate interventions.