Comparative short-term effectiveness of non-surgical treatments for insertional Achilles tendinopathy: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

Table 5 Summary of findings in treatment rankings (GRADE approach) for all outcomes in studies investigating the efficacy of non-surgical treatments for insertional Achilles tendinopathy

Outcome	Number of Participants (Studies)	Certainty of evidence	Comments
Attitudes	138 (3)	Low	Inconsistency^a
Range of motion	94 (2)	Low	Inconsistency^a
Muscle strength	94 (2)	Low	Inconsistency^a
Pain	434 (8)	Very Low	Risk of bias^c Inconsistency^a Indirectness^d
Quality of life	325 (6)	Low	Inconsistency^{a, b}
Activity limitations	154 (2)	Low	Risk of bias^c
Physical function	251 (5)	Low	Inconsistency ^b

Certainty of the evidence: very low, low, moderate, high
^aHeterogeneity in the location of symptoms (i.e., up to 6 cm proximal to the insertion)
^bHeterogeneity in stages of diseases
^cSerious risk of bias due to the lack of blinding of all subjects, blinding of all therapist who administers the therapy and blinding of all assessors
^dDifferences in therapist contact time between group

ISSN: 1471-2474