The Therapeutic Effect of Functional and Transcutaneous Electric Stimulation on Improving Gait Speed in Stroke Patients: A Meta-Analysis

Robbins SM, Houghton PE, Woodbury MG, Brown JL. The therapeutic effect of functional and transcutaneous electric stimulation on improving gait speed in stroke patients: a meta-analysis. To determine the effect of previous treatments of functional electric stimulation (FES) and transcutaneous electric stimulation (TENS) on improving gait speed in subjects poststroke. Relevant articles were obtained through a search of English-language articles cited in Medline, EMBASE, CINHAL, and PubMed databases from January 1966 to May 2005. Prospective clinical studies were included if electric stimulation was used to treat subjects poststroke and gait speed was used as an outcome measure. Excluded studies examined subjects with a variety of neurologic conditions, used implantable electrodes, or combined electric stimulation with treadmill training. A paired consensus between authors produced 8 articles. Two investigators extracted data independently. The methodologic quality of the studies was assessed with the Downs and Black checklist. A fixed-effects model produced a mean difference (.18; 95% confidence interval, .08–.28) that was significant ( z=3.65, P