Effectiveness of virtual reality-based rehabilitation versus conventional therapy on upper limb motor function of chronic stroke patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Objective: To systematically review the available randomized controlled trials in the literature concerning the application of virtual reality (VR) rehabilitation interventions compared to conventional physical therapy, in regaining the upper limb motor function among patients with chronic stroke. Methods: A systematic electronic database search was conducted for related studies published from inauguration and until June 25, 2020 in nine databases. Another new search was done on February 1, 2021 and no new studies were identified. Results: Six studies were included in the analysis. Significant improvement was seen following the VR therapy in patients with chronic stroke, compared to their scores prior to it (SMD = 0.28; 95% CI = 0.03-0.53; p = .03). There was neither heterogeneity (I-2 = 0% and P = .5) nor a risk of bias (P = .8) among the included studies. VR interventions produced a comparable effectiveness to that of the conventional rehabilitation, with no statistically significant difference (SMD = 0.15; 95% CI = -0.14-0.44; P = .3). There was neither heterogeneity (I-2 = 40% and P = .1) nor a risk of bias (P = .5) among the included studies. Conclusions: The upper limb motor function of patients with chronic stroke who underwent VR-based rehabilitative intervention showed significant improvement as compared to the pre-treatment state. Our analysis also revealed no superiority of VR interventions over conservative therapies; however, the difference observed did not accomplish statistical significance.