Effect of a comprehensive eRehabilitation intervention alongside conventional stroke rehabilitation on disability and health-related quality of life: A pre-post comparison.
Berber Brouns, Leti van Bodegom-Vos, Arend J de Kloet and 7 others
PMID 33369683WHAT IT FOUND
Adding eRehabilitation to standard stroke care showed no benefit in the first 3 months.
Between 3 and 6 months, the intervention group had slightly better communication and strength scores than controls, but these changes were too small to be clinically meaningful.
Key findings
01There were no significant differences between the intervention and control groups in the first 3 months after admission.
02Between 3 and 6 months, the intervention group showed significantly greater improvement in Communication and Physical strength than the control group.
03The observed differences in Physical strength did not exceed the minimal clinically important difference, meaning they were not clinically meaningful.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was not randomized; groups were separated by time period, which introduces confounding from other changes in care or context over time. Participants and assessors were not blinded, which could influence reported outcomes. Only 50% of the intervention group was offered the eRehabilitation, and only 65.8% of those offered actually used it, limiting the applicability of the results. Most users stopped using the intervention before the 3-month follow-up. The number of actual users in the intervention group was too small to detect significant differences in the per-protocol analysis with high certainty.
Declared interests
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the significant difference in Communication and Physical Strength scores between 3 and 6 months as evidence that eRehabilitation works. These changes were smaller than the minimal clinically important difference, meaning patients would not notice a meaningful benefit.