Abstract
Objective
Stroke is one of the main causes of disability and the second common cause of mortality in the world. Stroke causes
relatively permanent motor defects, including balance disorder, and thus affects an
individual's functional capacity and independence. Many clinical types of research have been conducted to evaluate the effect of functional electrical stimulation (FES) on balance in post-stroke patients. The objective of
this study was to systematically review the effect of functional electrical stimulation (FES) on balance as compared to conventional therapy alone
in post-stroke.
Methods
The databases of Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect and ProQuest were searched using selected keywords. The randomized controlled trials
were searched for published original articles before February 2019 in English language
and included if they assessed the effect of FES on balance ability compared to conventional
therapy alone in adult post-stroke. The Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale
was used to assess the methodological quality.
Results
Nine papers were included in this review (median PEDro scale =7/11). The total number
of participants in this review study was 255. The age of participants ranged from
20 to 80 years. Stroke patients were in chronic phase (n = 5) and in subacute phase (n = 4). various parameters,
including the target muscles, the treatment time per session (20 min-2 h), number
of treatment sessions (12–48) and FES frequency (25–40 Hz), were assessed. Among the
studies, significant between-group improvement favoring FES in combination with conventional therapy was found on the
Berg Balance Scale (n = 7) and Timed Up and Go Scale (n = 4) when compared to conventional
therapy alone. There was no adverse effect reported by any studies.
Conclusion
FES was reported to be more beneficial in balance improvement among stroke patients
when combined with conventional balance therapy. The studies were limited by low-powered, small sample sizes ranging from 9 to 48, and lack of blinding, and reporting of
missing data.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 22, 2021
Accepted:
March 28,
2021
Received in revised form:
February 24,
2021
Received:
October 25,
2020
Identification
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2021.105793
Copyright
© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
