Outcomes in randomized controlled trials of exercise interventions in solid organ transplant

AIM: To identify the outcome measures that have been used in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of exercise training in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients and to link these outcomes to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework. METHODS: Electronic literature searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Science were performed. We sought RCTs that investigated the effect of exercise training in SOT recipients. Reference lists of all eligible publications were searched for other appropriate studies not identified by the electronic search. A complete list of outcome measures used in the RCTs was generated and each of these was linked to an ICF category. CONCLUSION: There is little standardization in outcome measures used in RCTs of exercise interventions in SOT recipients. The ICF framework can be used to select a core set of outcomes that cross all domains of ICF and that would be appropriate to all SOT recipients.