ReviewPloS one2019
Rehabilitation interventions for improving balance following stroke: An overview of systematic reviews.
Review in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 49 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Comparison of Mirror Therapy and Modified Constrain Induced Movement Therapy on Risk of Fall, Balance and Gait in Stroke
Comparative Effects of Unstable Surfaces and Bobath Based Trunk Exercises on Trunk Impairment, Postural Control and Balance in Stroke Patients.
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 105 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative effectiveness of exercise interventions on postural balance and activity ability in stroke patients: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMC neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Combined training improves functional capacity, fatigue, and quality of life in individuals with multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of Vestibular Rehabilitation and Dual-Task Training on Balance and Gait in Survivors of Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of combined robotics and virtual reality on lower limb functional ability in stroke survivors: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Pooled it
- Immersive Virtual Reality in Post-Stroke Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Pooled it
- AMSTAR 2 appraisal of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in the field of heart failure from high-impact journals.Systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Optimal exercise prescription for balance after stroke: a Bayesian dose-response network meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurologyPooled it
- Effectiveness of a rehabilitation program involving functional proprioceptive stimulation for postural control and motor recovery among stroke patients: a double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Effectiveness of the A3 robot on lower extremity motor function in stroke patients: A prospective, randomized controlled trial.World journal of clinical cases · 2024Trial
- Influence of Core-Stability Exercises Guided by a Telerehabilitation App on Trunk Performance, Balance and Gait Performance in Chronic Stroke Survivors: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Effects of Balance Exercise Assist Robot training for patients with hemiparetic stroke: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2022Trial
- A Novel Virtual Reality Training Strategy for Poststroke Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of healthcare engineering · 2021Trial
- Article
- Group Telerehabilitation to Improve Balance and Mobility in Patients After Stroke Performed at Home: A Feasibility and Pilot Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Deep Learning-Based Evaluation of Postural Control Impairments Caused by Stroke Under Altered Sensory Conditions.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Balance Improvement and Fall Risk Reduction in Stroke Survivors After Treatment With a Wearable Home-Use Gait Device: Single-Arm Longitudinal Study With 1-Year Follow-Up.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Enhancing postural control in stroke patients: advances in mechanisms and functional recovery analysis of core stability training.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025Review
- Analysis of Factors Affecting Quality of Life (QoL) in Middle-Aged Stroke Patients (Under 65 Years Old) in the Rehabilitation Phase: Multivariate Regression Analysis.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe aim of this study was to synthesize evidence from systematic reviews, to summarise the effects of rehabilitation interventions for improving balance in stroke survivors.
methodsWe conducted an overview of systematic reviews (SRs). We included Cochrane Systematic Reviews and non-Cochrane Systematic Reviews of randomized-controlled clinical trials and not-randomized clinical trials, in all types of stroke, comparing the effects of interventions, control interventions and no interventions on balance-related outcomes. We conducted a comprehensive search of electronic databases, from inception to December 2017. Data extracted included: number and type of participants, type of intervention, control intervention, method of assessing risk of bias of primary studies, balance outcome measures and results of statistical meta-analyses. Methodological quality of included reviews was assessed using AMSTAR 2. A narrative description of the characteristics of the SRs was provided and results of meta-analyses summarised with reference to their methodological quality.
results51 SRs (248 primary studies and 10,638 participants) met the inclusion criteria and were included in the overview. All participants were adults with stroke. A wide variety of different balance and postural control outcomes were included. 61% of SRs focussed on the effectiveness of physical therapy, 20% virtual reality, 6% electromechanical devices, 4% Tai-Chi, whole body vibration and circuit training intervention, and 2% cognitive rehabilitation. The methodology of 54% of SRs were judged to be of a "low or critically low" quality, 23% "moderate" quality and 22% "high" quality.
conclusionsThere are 51 SRs of evidence relating to the effectiveness of interventions to improve balance in people with stroke, but the majority of these are of poor methodological quality, limiting our ability to draw clear implications. Only 22% of these SRs were judged to be of high quality, highlighting the need to address important methodological issues within rehabilitation research.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.