Results of prevention therapy
| Preventive measure | Effect | Studies | Patients (N) | (S)MD/RR (95% CI) | Results in favour of |
| Immobilisation versus functional support | Recurrent sprains | 11 RCTs | 844 | RR 1.17 (0.86 to 1.59) | None |
| Functional support | Recurrent sprains | 6 RCTs | 2307 | RR 0.30 (0.21 to 0.43) | Functional support |
| First-time sprains | 4 RCTs | 2933 | RR 0.69 (0.49 to 0.96) | Functional support | |
| Sprains in mixed injured –non-injured groups | 6 RCTs | 6108 | RR 0.39 (0.25 to 0.95) | Functional support | |
| Muscle activity | 1 RCT | 60 | MD 1.13 (−1.48 to 3.75) | None | |
| Stability | 1 RCT | 62 | MD −0.44 (– 0.70 to −0.18) | Functional support | |
| Exercise therapy | Recurrent sprains | 10 RCTs | 1284 | RR 0.62 (0.51 to 0.76) | Exercise |
| First-time sprains | 1 RCT | 173 | RR 0.45 (0.15 to 1.37) | None | |
| Sprains in mixed injured –non-injured groups | 13 RCTs | 8021 | RR 0.60 (0.51 to 0.70) | Exercise | |
| Surgery | Recurrent sprains | 12 RCTs | 1437 | RR 0.72 (0.55 to 0.94) | Surgery |
Immobilisation: cast; exercise therapy: physical therapy, strength training, proprioceptive training; functional support: brace, tape; surgery, anatomic repair or reconstruction; walker boot.
RCTs, randomised controlled trials; RR, relative risk; (S) MD, standardised mean difference.