Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34913062›Full record

SynthesisJournal of rehabilitation medicine2022

Efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for improving lower limb function in individuals with neurological disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized sham-controlled trials.

Søren Krogh, Anette B Jønsson, Per Aagaard, Helge Kasch

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of rehabilitation medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 18% 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

18 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation in motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease: an overview of systematic reviews with meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025
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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

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Søren KroghDepartment of Neurology, Regional Hospital Viborg, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark. skjensen87@gmail.com.
Anette B Jønsson
Per Aagaard
Helge Kasch
Aarhus University · DKRegionshospitalet Viborg · DKUniversity of Southern Denmark · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation vs sham stimulation on improving lower-limb functional outcomes in individuals with neurological disorders. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, CINAHL, Embase and Scopus databases were searched from inception to 31 March 2020 to identify papers (n = 1,198). Two researchers independently reviewed studies for eligibility. Randomized clinical trials with parallel-group design, involving individuals with neurological disorders, including lower-limb functional outcome measures and published in scientific peer-reviewed journals were included. DATA EXTRACTION: Two researchers independently screened eligible papers (n = 27) for study design, clinical population characteristics, stimulation protocol and relevant outcome measures, and assessed study quality. DATA SYNTHESIS: Studies presented a moderate risk of selection, attrition and reporting bias. An overall effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation was found for outcomes: gait (effect size [95% confidence interval; 95% CI]: 0.51 [0.29; 0.74], p = 0.003) and muscle strength (0.99 [0.40; 1.58], p = 0.001) and disorders: stroke (0.20 [0.00; 0.39], p = 0.05), Parkinson's disease (1.01 [0.65; 1.37], p = 0.02) and spinal cord injury (0.50 [0.14; 0.85], p = 0.006), compared with sham. No effect was found for outcomes: mobility and balance.

conclusionSupplementary repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation may promote rehabilitation focused on ambulation and muscle strength and overall lower-limb functional recovery in individuals with stroke, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury. Further evidence is needed to extrapolate these findings.

Indexed as

Gait Disorders, NeurologicStroke RehabilitationHumansLower ExtremityRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRecovery of FunctionTranscranial Magnetic Stimulation

Identifiers

PMID34913062
PMCPMC8862648
OpenAlexW4200592284

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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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.