Embodied robots in rehabilitation-oriented interventions for older adults with disability or cognitive impairment: a scoping review.

Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2026 · Systematic Review · PT · OT
Wen Xu, Xian Zhou, Yu Zeng, Sixuan Han, Yanyan Hong

A scoping review mapped 11 robot-rehabilitation studies for older adults. The evidence is too small and too varied to say robots improve function — it's a landscape map, not proof of benefit. Four of five physical-rehab studies were done in Chinese hospitals.

Key findings

1

Only 11 studies met the strict rehabilitation-oriented criteria, split into 6 for cognitive rehabilitation or stimulation and 5 for physical rehabilitation, published between 2019 and 2026.

2

Four of the five physical rehabilitation studies were conducted in Chinese hospital settings, which the authors note limits generalizability of that subgroup to other health systems.

3

Intervention dose, safety, adverse events, adherence, withdrawals, and follow-up were inconsistently reported across the included studies, making dose-response interpretation and safety conclusions impossible.

MethodologyResultsClinical Relevance

Single-blind randomized controlled trial. Sixty-four participants were randomized across two intervention arms and assessed at twelve weeks for the primary outcome…

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Summarised by AI from the abstract, not the full paper. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed