ArticleActa neurologica Belgica2026
Effects of combined virtual reality assisted gait training and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation on motor function in children with spastic cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled trial.
Article in Acta neurologica Belgica, 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
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSpastic cerebral palsy (CP) is characterized by impaired motor function, particularly in the lower limbs. Although both virtual reality (VR)-assisted gait training and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) have demonstrated beneficial effects, evidence regarding their combined application remains limited.
objectiveThis exploratory study aimed to explore the effects of combined VR-assisted gait training and PNF on lower-limb motor function in children with spastic CP.
methodsThirty children with spastic CP were randomly assigned to a conventional rehabilitation group (CG), a VR training group, or a combined VR and PNF group (PNF + VR), with 10 participants in each group. All participants underwent a 12-week intervention program. The primary outcomes were Gross Motor Function Measure-88 (GMFM-88) dimensions D (GMFM-88D) and E (GMFM-88E); secondary outcomes included the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), lower-limb Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), range of motion (ROM), and bone mineral density (BMD). A two-way mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate group-by-time interactions, with post hoc comparisons of change scores used as supportive analyses.
resultsAll groups showed improvements in functional outcomes after the intervention. Significant group × time interaction effects were observed for GMFM-88D, MAS, FMA, and ROM (p < 0.05), with the PNF + VR group demonstrating the greatest improvements. Although GMFM-88E improved significantly in the PNF + VR group, as indicated by change-score comparisons, the interaction effect was not statistically significant. No significant interaction effects were found for BBS or BMD (p > 0.05).
conclusionThe combination of VR-assisted gait training and PNF may provide additional benefits in improving lower-limb motor function in children with spastic CP compared with conventional rehabilitation or VR training alone.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42606633What 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.