Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Randomised and pre-test post-test studies were included (level A or B, see 'Validity' section below) were included.
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies of treatments for ankle rehabilitation were eligible for inclusion. The included studies examined a variety of treatments. Controlled studies compared the following treatments: strength training or multistation proprioceptive exercise versus normal activities; ankle disk training with and without non-elastic adhesive tape around the lateral malleolus; and ultrasound versus placebo. Other studies examined low and three-quarter-top shoes with and without adhesive tape, orthoses and ankle disk training. The interventions, where reported, lasted from 2 to 10 weeks.
Participants included in the review
The inclusion criteria were not specified in terms of participants. The included studies involved men and women with no history of ankle injury, ankle inversion from 100 hours to 18 months before the study, repeated ankle injury plus subjective feeling of the ankle giving way, and athletes with functional instability of one ankle. The age of the participants, where reported, ranged from 14 to 65 years.
Outcomes assessed in the review
The inclusion criteria were not specified in terms of outcomes. The included studies assessed a variety of outcomes: maximal eversion moment, peak torque, power, endurance, muscle onset latency (by electromyography) joint position sense, postural sway (by force plate or stabilometry), muscle reaction time (by electromyography), pain (by visual analogue scale), swelling (by tape measure), range of movement (fluid-filled goniometer), weight bearing (using two scales at the same time) and ankle inversions (assessed using a questionnaire).
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors did not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many reviewers performed the selection.