Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Jul 15, 2020
Date Accepted: Nov 6, 2020
Virtual Reality systems for Upper Limb motor function recovery in patients with Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) usually present different motor impairments including a deterioration of upper limb motor function, causing an important limitation in the performance of activities of daily living, and a loss of quality of life.
Objective:
A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual reality on upper limb motor function in patients with SCI, compared to conventional physical therapy.
Methods:
The literature search was performed during October-December 2019 in Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), Scopus, Medline, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), PubMed, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. The PEDro scale was used to analyze the methodological quality of the studies, and the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool was employed to evaluate the risk of bias.
Results:
A total of six articles were included in this systematic review. Five of them contributed information to the meta-analysis. Statistical analysis showed not conclusive results for all the outcomes analyzed: Nine Hole Peg Test (standardized mean difference (SMD) -0.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.95 to 0.09); Muscle Balance test (SMD -0.27, 95% CI -0.82 to 0.27); Motricity Index (SMD 0.16, 95% CI −0.37 to 0.68); Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test (SMD -0.28, 95% CI -0.84 to 0.28); Range of Motion (SMD 0.10, 95% CI -0.49 to 0.69).
Conclusions:
The current evidence of virtual reality interventions to improve upper limb motor function in patients with SCI is limited. Further research is needed to prove the use of virtual reality in the clinical rehabilitation of patients with SCI.
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