Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32539812›Full record

Trial reportJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation2020

Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation with virtual reality on upper limb function in patients with ischemic stroke: a randomized controlled trial.

Xiaoling Yao, Lijun Cui, Jixian Wang, Wuwei Feng, Yong Bao, Qing Xie

Open access · goldAbstract readClinical Trial, Phase IIRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

31 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.

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  5. Comparative efficacy of different noninvasive brain stimulation protocols on upper-extremity motor function and activities of daily living after stroke: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024
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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

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Xiaoling YaoDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Lijun CuiDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Jixian WangDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Wuwei FengDeparment of Neurology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Yong BaoDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, Shanghai Ruijin Rehabilitation Hospital, Shanghai, China. 15901999958@163.com.
Qing XieDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. ruijin_xq@163.com.ORCID 0000-0002-3298-1072
Shanghai Jiao Tong University · CNRuijin Hospital · CNDuke Medical Center · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNon-invasive brain stimulation techniques have been shown in several studies to improve the motor recovery of the affected upper-limbs in stroke patients. This study aims to investigate whether or not cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (c-tDCS), combined with virtual reality (VR), is superior to VR alone in reducing motor impairment and improving upper limb function and quality of life in stroke patients.

methodsForty patients who suffered ischemic stroke between 2 weeks to 12 months were recruited for this single-blind randomized control trial. The patients were randomly assigned either to an experimental group who receiving c-tDCS and VR, or a control group receiving sham stimulation and VR. The cathodal electrode was positioned over the primary motor cortex (M1) of the unaffected hemisphere. The treatment session consisted of 20 min of daily therapy, for 10 sessions over a 2-week period. The outcome measures were the Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity (FM-UE), the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) and the Barthel Index (BI).

resultsThe two groups were comparable in demographic characteristic and motor impairment. After 2 weeks of intervention, both groups demonstrated significant improvement in FM-UE, ARAT and BI scores (P<0.05).The experiment group demonstrated more improvement in FM-UE than the control group (10.1 vs. 6.4, p = 0.003) and, ARAT (7.0 vs 3.6, p = 0.026) and BI (12.8 vs 8.5, p = 0.043).

conclusionsThe findings from our study support that c-tDCS, along with VR, can facilitate a stronger beneficial effect on upper limb motor impairment, function and quality of life than VR alone in patients with ischemic stroke.

trial registrationThe study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1800019386) in November 8, 2018-Retrospectively registered.

Indexed as

StrokeAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedMotor CortexRecovery of FunctionSingle-Blind MethodStroke RehabilitationTranscranial Direct Current StimulationUpper ExtremityVirtual Reality Exposure TherapyIschemic strokeMotor functionTranscranial direct current stimulationUpper limbVirtual reality

Identifiers

PMID32539812
PMCPMC7296643
OpenAlexW3034183469

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.