Efficacy of vibration therapy on physical function, activity and participation in people with stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Yage Wang, JingLan Wang, Beibei Lei and 5 others
PMID 42177539WHAT IT FOUND
Vibration therapy improved motor function, spasticity, balance, gait and daily activity in stroke survivors.
Benefits were larger with longer sessions and in chronic stroke. Participation outcomes showed no change. Evidence quality was moderate, so results need cautious interpretation.
Key findings
01Vibration therapy significantly improved motor function, spasticity, balance, gait, and activity, but not participation.
02Longer single-session vibration time, greater cumulative vibration time, and longer intervention duration were associated with greater improvements in gait, balance, and spasticity respectively.
03People with chronic stroke showed greater spasticity improvement than those in the acute or subacute phases.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Blinding of participants and researchers was incomplete in many studies, which may bias results. There was substantial heterogeneity in vibration protocols (frequency, amplitude, duration) and patient populations across the included trials. Evidence quality was graded as moderate to low, particularly for balance and participation outcomes. The review could not determine long-term effects due to limited follow-up data in the primary studies. The protocol was registered on PROSPERO after the literature search was completed, which raises concerns about potential selection bias.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Henan Science & Tech Project and the Henan Med Sci & Tech Research Program. No other conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume vibration therapy improves participation or social integration. The review found no significant benefit for participation outcomes. Also, the evidence for balance improvements was downgraded due to heterogeneity and publication bias concerns, so interpret balance gains with caution.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →