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Table 1 Eligibility criteria for including studies in this systematic review

From: Exercise, or exercise and diet for the management of polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Inclusion criteria:

 1. Study design: randomised controlled trials and quasi-randomised controlled trials.

 2. Types of participants: reproductive-aged women with a diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) based on the National Institute of Health (NIH) diagnostic criteria (1990), the Rotterdam ESHRE/ASRM (2003) diagnostic criteria or the AE-PCOS Criteria (2006). We also included trials where the PCOS diagnosis had been verified by a general practitioner or specialist clinician.

 3. Comparators: exercise vs usual care/control, exercise combined with diet vs usual care/control, exercise combined with diet vs diet only. Exercise combined with diet vs exercise only, exercise vs diet, exercise combined with pharmaceutical vs pharmaceutical.

 4. All outcomes; expected outcomes included: primary outcomes, such as blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, insulin and lipid concentrations; and secondary outcomes, such as body mass index, cardiorespiratory fitness, testosterone, free androgen index and health-related quality of life measures.

Exclusion criteria:

 1. Study design: case studies, cross sectional and non-randomised controlled trials.

 2. Types of participants: males, adolescent females, post-menopausal women, women without PCOS

 3. Comparators: women with PCOS vs healthy controls, pharmaceutical vs exercise, pharmaceutical vs diet, diet vs diet, surgical vs any other condition.