Summary of findings; intervention: NMES
| WHO domain outcome | Review author; N studies: N patients | Pooled effect (95% CI) | GRADE of evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Impairment | ||||
| Muscle strength | Wageck et al27 3 66 | SMD 0.77, (0.13 to 1.40), p=0.02 | ϴ Very low* | Downgraded −3 for serious risk of bias, inconsistency and imprecision |
| Muscle structure | Wageck et al27 6 | Not possible to pool | ϴϴ Low† | Downgraded −2 for serious inconsistency and indirectness |
| CIP/CIM | Hermans et al25 1 52 | RR 0.32 (0.10 to 1.01), p=0.05 | ϴϴ Low‡ | Downgraded −2 for serious risk of bias and indirectness |
Comparison: usual care. Stage of recovery: in the ICU.
*50% no concealed allocation; 50% no blinded assessors; 50% not reported measures of key outcomes >85% patients; 50% no ITT and mean difference in one study does not fall within the 95% CI of the other.
†Three studies reported an effect and three did not; and different outcome measures were used at different timepoints.
‡High ROB reported by review for this study vis-à-vis randomisation, concealment, incomplete outcome data and selective reporting; and not all participants were evaluable.CIP/CIM, critical illness polyneuropathy/myopathy; ICU, intensive care unit; ITT, intention to treat; NMES, neuromuscular electrical stimulation; ROB, risk of bias; RR, risk ratio; SMD, standard mean difference.