Group rehabilitation for adults with acquired neurological disorders: A systematic review of mono- and interdisciplinary interventions in physical and speech-language therapy.
Nina Greiner, Norina Lauer, Valentin Schedel and 1 others
PMID 41216882WHAT IT FOUND
Group therapy works for aphasia, especially intensive approaches, but shows no clear advantage over individual therapy for stroke mobility.
No studies tested true integrated PT/SLT care, leaving a major gap in evidence for combined treatment.
Key findings
01SLT group interventions improve communication and language in aphasia compared to no treatment, with moderate certainty for comparisons between different group approaches.
02PT group therapy showed no advantage over no intervention for mobility, and results comparing group to individual therapy were inconsistent for balance and physical function.
03No included study implemented a true interdisciplinary integrated treatment combining PT and SLT, despite guidelines recommending this approach.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The review excluded neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson's, limiting generalizability to those populations. Only English and German studies were included. The quality of evidence was mostly low or very low, with high risk of bias in many studies. No studies tested true interdisciplinary integrated care, so this model remains unevaluated. Telerehabilitation was barely studied, with only two VR-based SLT trials included.
Declared interests
The review was partially funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Health. Authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that group therapy is universally better than individual therapy. The evidence shows no clear superiority for PT outcomes like mobility, and SLT results are mixed. Do not assume integrated PT/SLT care works; no study in this review actually tested it.
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 →