SynthesisNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2026
Can virtual reality interventions reduce falls in Parkinson's disease? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.
Synthesis in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundVirtual reality (VR) is increasingly utilized in neurorehabilitation, yet the translational gap between improved clinical scores and actual fall reduction in Parkinson’s disease (PD) persists.
objectiveWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in individuals with PD to quantify the effect of VR interventions on fall rate relative to conventional controls.
methodsA systematic search of six major databases was conducted. Methodological quality was assessed using RoB 2 and certainty of evidence via GRADE. The primary outcome was fall rate, analyzed as incidence rate ratio (IRR), while secondary outcomes included the number of fallers, Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale, and Falls Efficacy Scale (FES). Subgroup analyses, based on activity of controls and supervision were planned and performed.
resultsWe included 19 RCTs (22 reports). A meta-analysis on four trials (n = 270) assessing the primary outcome showed a pooled IRR of 0.54 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.35–0.84), indicating a 46% reduction in fall rate favoring VR (low-certainty evidence). Four trials (n = 335) also showed a 25% relative reduction in the number of fallers with at least one fall (low-certainty evidence; risk ratio [RR] 0.75, 95% CI 0.60–0.93). Psychological benefits were also suggested, while further subgroup analyses revealed that improvements were driven by supervised interventions, showing a statistically significant effect on FES family at post-intervention (standardized mean difference [SMD] -0.62; 95% CI -0.93, -0.31) and ABC at follow-up (mean difference [MD] 5.47; 95% CI 2.42, 8.53).
conclusionsVR-based rehabilitation may meaningfully reduce fall rate and the proportion of fallers in people with PD compared to conventional controls, although current evidence is of low certainty and is based on a small number of trials. Further research is needed in assessing fall rate with priority and in comparing equal VR protocols, particularly with different supervision levels, to determine optimal implementation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41857319What 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.