Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31092252›Full record

Trial reportJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation2019

Elements virtual rehabilitation improves motor, cognitive, and functional outcomes in adult stroke: evidence from a randomized controlled pilot study.

Jeffrey M Rogers, Jonathan Duckworth, Sandy Middleton, Bert Steenbergen, Peter H Wilson

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04164381 (Use of Robotics to Improve Cognitive Functions in Subject With Subacute Stroke), which is not on this map. Cited by 58 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
58citing papers in PubMed, 14 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT04164381 nacompletednot on this map

Use of Robotics to Improve Cognitive Functions in Subject With Subacute Stroke: a Bicentric Pilot Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorFondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ETSRan2019 to 2020Enrolled51ConditionsStrokeArmsRobotic assisted intervention
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

58 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Efficacy of digital health technologies as adjunctive functional training in occupational therapy for stroke rehabilitation: a meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
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  10. Serious games for upper limb rehabilitation after stroke: a meta-analysis.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2021
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Jeffrey M RogersThe University of Sydney, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sydney, NSW, Australia. jeffrey.rogers@sydney.edu.au.
Jonathan DuckworthSchool of Design, RMIT, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Sandy MiddletonNursing Research Institute, St Vincent's Health Australia and Australian Catholic University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Bert SteenbergenBehavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-8863-2624
Peter H WilsonCentre for Disability and Development Research (CeDDR) and School of Behavioural and Health Science, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-3747-0287

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundVirtual reality technologies show potential as effective rehabilitation tools following neuro-trauma. In particular, the Elements system, involving customized surface computing and tangible interfaces, produces strong treatment effects for upper-limb and cognitive function following traumatic brain injury. The present study evaluated the efficacy of Elements as a virtual rehabilitation approach for stroke survivors.

methodsTwenty-one adults (42-94 years old) with sub-acute stroke were randomized to four weeks of Elements virtual rehabilitation (three weekly 30-40 min sessions) combined with treatment as usual (conventional occupational and physiotherapy) or to treatment as usual alone. Upper-limb skill (Box and Blocks Test), cognition (Montreal Cognitive Assessment and selected CogState subtests), and everyday participation (Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory) were examined before and after inpatient training, and one-month later.

resultsEffect sizes for the experimental group (d = 1.05-2.51) were larger compared with controls (d = 0.11-0.86), with Elements training showing statistically greater improvements in motor function of the most affected hand (p = 0.008), and general intellectual status and executive function (p ≤ 0.001). Proportional recovery was two- to three-fold greater than control participants, with superior transfer to everyday motor, cognitive, and communication behaviors. All gains were maintained at follow-up.

conclusionA course of Elements virtual rehabilitation using goal-directed and exploratory upper-limb movement tasks facilitates both motor and cognitive recovery after stroke. The magnitude of training effects, maintenance of gains at follow-up, and generalization to daily activities provide compelling preliminary evidence of the power of virtual rehabilitation when applied in a targeted and principled manner.

trial registrationthis pilot study was not registered.

Indexed as

Recovery of FunctionVirtual RealityAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCognitionFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedMotor ActivityPhysical Therapy ModalitiesPilot ProjectsStrokeStroke RehabilitationCognitionMotor activityRehabilitationStrokeUpper extremityVirtual reality

Identifiers

PMID31092252
PMCPMC6518680

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.