Noninvasive Neuromodulation Combined With Rehabilitation Therapy Improves Balance and Gait Speed in Patients With Stroke: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.

This study aimed to determine repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation, and cranial nerve noninvasive neuromodulation affect functional balance, gait speed, and walking cadence in stroke patients. We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Scopus (June 22, 2022) for randomized controlled trials. Three reviewers independently performed data extraction and assessed the risk of bias. Network and pairwise meta-analyses were performed to assess indirect and direct comparisons. We included 34 studies ( N = 915 patients). Sixty percent had moderate-to-high methodological quality. The meta-analyses showed positive effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with rehabilitation therapy compared with sham on gait speed, walking cadence, and balance function with weighted mean differences and 95% confidence interval of 0.08 (0.03 to 0.13), 7.16 (3.217 to 11.103), and 3.05 (0.52 to 5.57), respectively. Transcranial direct current stimulation showed improvement on the time up and go test (-0.88 [-1.68 to -0.08]). From the surface under the cumulative ranking analyses, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is the best ranked treatment for gait speed and functional balance improvement compared with transcranial direct current stimulation and sham interventions. There were not enough studies to include cranial nerve noninvasive neuromodulation in the meta-analysis. Walking cadence and speed, functional balance significantly improved after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation with short-term effects, which were superior to that of transcranial direct current stimulation and sham treatments. Transcranial direct current stimulation showed short-term beneficial effects on the Time Up and Go test.

Tangjade A ，Suputtitada A ，Pacheco-Barrios K ，Fregni F ... -  《-》

Noninvasive brain stimulation combined with other therapies improves gait speed after stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Vaz PG ，Salazar APDS ，Stein C ，Marchese RR ，Lukrafka JL ，Plentz RDM ，Pagnussat AS ... -  《-》

Functional Balance and Postural Control Improvements in Patients With Stroke After Noninvasive Brain Stimulation: A Meta-analysis.

The postural imbalance poststroke limits individuals' walking abilities as well as increase the risk of falling. We investigated the short-term treatment effects of noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) on functional balance and postural control in patients with stroke. We started the search via PubMed and the Institute for Scientific Information's Web of Science on March 1, 2019 and concluded the search on April 30, 2019. The meta-analysis included studies that used either repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for the recovery of functional balance and postural control poststroke. All included studies used either randomized controlled trial or crossover designs with a sham control group. Three researchers independently performed data extraction and assessing methodological quality and publication bias. We calculated overall and individual effect sizes using random effects meta-analysis models. The random effects meta-analysis model on the 18 qualified studies identified the significant positive effects relating to NIBS in terms of functional balance and postural control poststroke. The moderator-variable analyses revealed that these treatment effects were only significant in rTMS across patients with acute, subacute, and chronic stroke whereas tDCS did not show any significant therapeutic effects. The meta-regression analysis showed that a higher number of rTMS sessions was significantly associated with more improvements in functional balance and postural control poststroke. Our systematic review and meta-analysis confirmed that NIBS may be an effective option for restoring functional balance and postural control for patients with stroke.

Kang N ，Lee RD ，Lee JH ，Hwang MH ... -  《-》

Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation alone and in combination with rehabilitation therapies on gait and balance among individuals with Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurogenerative disorder implicated in dysfunctions of motor functions, particularly gait and balance. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation offered as a potential adjuvant therapy for PD. This systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to identify whether tDCS alone and combined with additional rehabilitation therapies improve gait and balance among individuals with PD. We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and relevant databases for eligible studies from inception to December 2022. Studies with a comparative design investigating the effects of tDCS on motor functions, including gait and balance among individuals with PD, were included. A meta-analysis was performed for each outcome using a random effects model for subgroup analysis and pooling of overall effect sizes. A total of 23 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled results revealed that tDCS has moderate overall effects on gait, measured by gait speed (standardized mean deviation [SMD] = 0.238; 95% confidence interval [CI]  - 0.026 to 0.502); stride length (SMD = 0.318; 95% CI - 0.015 to 0.652); cadence (SMD =  - 0.632; 95% CI - 0.932 to - 0.333); freezing of gait questionnaire scores (SMD =  - 0.360; 95% CI - 0.692 to - 0.027); step length (SMD = 0.459; 95% CI - 0.031 to 0.949); walking time (SMD =  - 0.253; 95% CI - 0.758 to 0.252); stride time (SMD =  - 0.785; 95% CI: - 1.680 to 0.111); double support time (SMD = 1.139; 95% CI - 0.244 to 0.523); and balance, measured by timed up and go (TUG) test (SMD =  - 0.294; 95% CI - 0.516 to - 0.073), Berg balance scale (BBS) scores (SMD = 0.406; 95% CI - 0.059 to 0.87), and dynamic gait index (SMD = 0.275; 95% CI - 0.349 to 0.898). For the subgroup analysis, gait and balance demonstrated moderate effect sizes. However, only cadence, stride time, and TUG indicated a significant difference between real and sham tDCS (P = 0.027, P = 0.002, and P = 0.023, respectively), whereas cadence and BBS (P < 0.01 and P = 0.045, respectively) significantly differed after real tDCS plus other therapies rather than after sham tDCS plus other therapies. Our results indicated that tDCS is significantly associated with gait and balance improvements among individuals with PD. The findings of this study provide more proof supporting the effectiveness of tDCS, encouraging tDCS to be utilized alone or in combination with other therapies in clinical practice for PD rehabilitation.

Nguyen TXD ，Mai PT ，Chang YJ ，Hsieh TH ... -  《Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation》

Can cerebellar theta-burst stimulation improve balance function and gait in stroke patients? A randomized controlled trial.

Zhu PA ，Li ZL ，Lu QQ ，Nie YY ，Liu H ，Kiernan E ，Yuan J ，Zhang LJ ，Bao X ... -  《-》