Use of Mobile/Tablet and Web-Based Applications to Support Rehabilitation After Stroke: A Scoping Review.
Mille Nabsen Marwaa, Susanne Guidetti, Charlotte Ytterberg and 1 others
PMID 35174871WHAT IT FOUND
Stroke rehabilitation apps mostly supported assessment or training for mild to moderate, often chronic, survivors.
Evidence was mainly feasibility and pilot studies, with little on goal setting, participation, severe stroke, or clinical effects.
Key findings
0146 app studies were mapped, with pilot, feasibility and randomized trials the most common designs.
02Apps targeted assessment or training most often; no included study targeted participation, and only one targeted goal setting.
0333 studies included mild-moderate stroke, 4 included severe stroke, and none included severe motor deficits.
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
This was a scoping review, not a quality-assessed synthesis, so the included studies were not weighted by risk of bias. Most included studies were small, with participant counts from 1 to 426, and many were pilot or feasibility studies. The review included only English-language studies and excluded 10 inaccessible relevant studies, so some evidence may be missing. Search terms may have missed studies, especially for speech-related deficits. There was no prespecified study protocol. Included participants were mostly mild to moderate stroke; none had severe motor deficits, so it says little about more disabled patients. Many studies did not report stroke onset or severity, and app use varied from single assessments to 12-week training. Most apps supported only one part of rehabilitation, and no app study targeted participation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that stroke rehabilitation apps improve clinical outcomes. This scoping review mostly mapped feasibility and pilot studies, several apps did not improve knowledge or health outcomes, and no study included participants with severe motor deficits.