Home-Based Gait Interventions for Adults with Stroke: A Scoping Review.
Brianne Darcy, Kyle B Reed, Stacy J M Bamberg and 2 others
PMID 41477086WHAT IT FOUND
Home gait treatments for stroke vary widely, from apps to caregiver-led plans.
Many studies showed walking improvements, but most were small or pilot trials. Most required clinic visits for setup or testing. Evidence is too mixed to recommend one specific home method over another.
Key findings
01The review included 62 studies involving 3008 adults with stroke who received home-based gait treatments.
02Technology-integrated programs, home-use devices, and individualized exercises were among the main treatment types, with many studies reporting some improvement in walking speed or endurance.
03Most studies required participants to visit a clinic for training, equipment setup, or assessment, meaning few treatments were fully independent of clinical settings.
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
The review did not assess the quality or certainty of the evidence in the included studies, so it cannot tell you which treatments are most reliable. Most of the included studies were small, with 39% described as pilot or feasibility trials, meaning the results are often preliminary. The participant population was younger than the general stroke population, with 73% of studies involving participants under age 65, limiting applicability to older adults. There was wide variation in how 'home-based' was defined; many studies still required clinic visits, making it hard to judge true home independence. The review only included English-language publications, which may have missed relevant studies from other regions.
Declared interests
The authors declared no financial or nonfinancial conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high number of studies reporting 'significant' improvements as proof that home-based gait treatments consistently work. Many of these were small pilot studies with no control group, and the review explicitly did not evaluate the quality of this evidence. The variation in results means no single home treatment can be recommended as superior based on this paper alone.
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 →