Key result
Upper limb robotic therapy improves post-stroke motor assessment scores by ~5 points over conventional training.
Why the study?
Does upper limb robotic therapy improve upper limb motor function, daily life activities, and muscular tone compared to conventional training in stroke patients?
Meta-Analysis (n=573)
Does upper limb robotic therapy improve upper limb motor function, daily life activities, and muscular tone compared to conventional training in stroke patients?
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Upper limb robot-assisted training improves motor impairment and daily living activities in stroke patients compared to conventional training.
BACKGROUND: Upper limb rehabilitation robot is a relatively new technology, but its effectiveness remains debatable due to the inconsistent results of clinical trials. This article intends to assess how upper limb rehabilitation robots help the functional recovery of stroke patients. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched for eligible studies to explore the effect of upper limb rehabilitation robots on upper limb motor function, muscle tone, and daily living activities. RESULTS: Eighteen trials with 573 stroke patients met the inclusion criteria. The results showed that compared to conventional rehabilitation training, patients who received upper limb robotic therapy (RT) had significantly improved Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity Motor Assessment (FMA-UE) scores (weighted mean differences [WMD]: 5.27, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 3.36, 7.17), Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) scores (WMD: 4.07, 95% CI: -4.14, 12.28), Modified Barthel Index (MBI) scores (WMD: 9.55, 95% CI: 6.37, 12.73), and modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) scores (WMD: -0.28, 95% CI: -0.50, 0.06), with no significant heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS: Upper limb robot-assisted training is superior to conventional training in terms of improving upper limb motor impairment, ability to perform daily living activities, and muscle tone recovery, which supports the application of robots in clinical practice.
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Wang et al. (2024) conducted a meta-analysis in Stroke (n=573). Upper limb robotic therapy vs. Conventional rehabilitation training was evaluated on Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity Motor Assessment (FMA-UE) scores (WMD 5.27, 95% CI 3.36, 7.17). Upper limb robotic therapy significantly improved Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity Motor Assessment scores compared to conventional training in stroke patients (WMD 5.27; 95% CI 3.36, 7.17).
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