Trial reportSpinal cord2019
Clinical efficacy of upper limb robotic therapy in people with tetraplegia: a pilot randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Spinal cord, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT06775925 (Robot-assisted vs. Conventional Occupational Therapy of the Upper Limb in Individuals With Cervical Spinal Cord Injury), which is not on this map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Robot-assisted vs. Conventional Occupational Therapy of the Upper Limb in Individuals With Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: The Armeo X-over Trial
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Essential training variables of arm-hand training in people with cervical spinal cord injury: a systematic review.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- AGREE: an upper limb motorized exoskeleton for restoring arm functions: a single-blinded randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Robotic Rehabilitation in Spinal Cord Injury: Neurophysiological Basis and Severity-Based Clinical Framework.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Effectiveness of Robot-Assisted Versus Conventional Occupational Therapy on Changes in Upper Extremity Function After Cervical Spinal Cord Injury (Armeo X-over Trial): Study Protocol of a Randomised Crossover Trial.Methods and protocols · 2026Article
- Effects of Technology-Assisted Rehabilitation After Spinal Cord Injury: Pilot Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies · 2025Article
- Computer-assisted robotic device for upper limb interventions for a patient with an incomplete cervical level spinal cord injury.BMJ case reports · 2023Article
- Upper limb modeling and motion extraction based on multi-space-fusion.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Treatment of the Paretic Hand with a Robotic Glove Combined with Physiotherapy in a Patient Suffering from Traumatic Tetraparesis: A Case Report.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The effectiveness of robotic-assisted upper limb rehabilitation to improve upper limb function in patients with cervical spinal cord injuries: a systematic literature review.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Review
- Upper Limb Robotic Rehabilitation for Patients with Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: A Comprehensive Review.Brain sciences · 2021Review
- A single-subject study of robotic upper limb training in the subacute phase for four persons with cervical spinal cord injury.Spinal cord series and cases · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
STUDY
designA pilot randomized controlled trial.
objectivesTo evaluate the clinical efficacy of upper limb robotic therapy in people with tetraplegia.
settingInpatient rehabilitation hospital in Seoul, Korea.
methodsParticipants were randomly allocated to a robotic therapy (RT) or occupational therapy (OT) group. Both groups received usual care plus 30 min of additional therapy per day for 4 weeks. The additional therapy provided to the OT group was OT, and the additional therapy provided to RT group was RT using the Armeo Power. Primary outcomes were the Medical Research Council scale of each key muscle and Upper Extremity Motor Score (UEMS) for the trained arm. Secondary outcomes were the Spinal Cord Independence Measurement version III (SCIM-III) subscale and total score. Evaluations were performed at baseline and 4 weeks.
resultsA total of 34 individuals with tetraplegia were included; 17 in each group. At 4 weeks, the median (IQR) change in UEMS in the RT group was 1/25 (0 to 3) points compared with 0/25 (-1 to 1) points in the OT group (p = 0.03). The median (IQR) change in total SCIM-III score in the RT group was 7/100 (1.5 to 11) points compared with 0/100 (-8 to 4) points in the OT group (p < 0.01).
conclusionsThere were small improvements in motor strength and SCIM-III scores in the RT group, but there were no statistically significant differences between the groups. Further studies are required for a better understanding of the effects of RT for people with tetraplegia.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.