Effect of cycling training with or without electrical simulation on physical function in stroke survivors

Abstract

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Stroke is one of the leading cause of functional impairment and disability among the patients. Exercise rehabilitation is considered as one of the best corrective measure to remedy stroke problems. OBJECTIVE: The current study examines the extant studies that have attempted to analyze the effect of cycling training with or without electrical simulation on physical function in stroke patients. METHOD: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO electronic databases were searched systematically. Collected randomized controlled trials were analysed to investigate the effect of cycling training with or without electrical stimulation on physical function in stroke survivors. RESULTS: Twelve randomized controlled trails, include 318 participants, met eligibility criteria were studied. Main interventions of these trials were cycling training with or without electrical stimulation (FES), and standard rehabilitations. There was no significant improvement in the intervention group compared to the control group in: mobility (SMD= 0.28; 95% CI, -0.04 to 0.61; P=0.09, I2=44%), balance (SMD= 0.04; 95% CI, -0.26 to 0.33, P= 0.80, I2=50%), 6-minutes waking test (SMD= 0.10; 95% CI, -0.31 to 0.52, P=0.62, I2=22%), and 10-minutes waking test (SMD= -0.04; 95% CI, -0.32 to 0.24, P=0.77, I2=0%). CONCLUSION: Cycling with or without FES does not improve the condition of post stroke patient. However, from sensitivity analysis matrix, there was a small clinically significant but not statistically significant improvement in mobility in the control group compared to the cycling intervention with no change in balance and walking speed. Cycling should be integrated with physiotherapy to ensure significant improvement of the patients. Keywords: cycling, stroke, walking capacity, mobility, balance