Unilateral versus bilateral upper limb exercise therapy after stroke: A systematic review

Useless. They don't tell us the success rate or the protocols used. 

Unilateral versus bilateral upper limb exercise therapy after stroke: A systematic review

© 2012 The Authors. doi: 10.2340/16501977-0928Journal Compilation © 2012 Foundation of Rehabilitation Information. ISSN 1650-1977
 J Rehabil Med 44
REVIEW ARTICLE
J Rehabil Med
Objective:
 To compare the effects of unilateral and bilateral training on upper limb function after stroke with regard to two key factors: severity of upper limb paresis and time of intervention post-stroke.
 Design:
Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
 Methods:
 Two authors independently selected trials for inclusion, assessed the methodological quality and extracted data. Study outcomes were pooled by calculating the (standardized) mean difference ((S)MD). Sensitivity analyses for severity and time of intervention post-stroke were applied when possible.
 Results:
All 9 studies involving 452 patients showed homogeneity. In chronic patients with a mild upper limb paresis
after stroke a marginally significant SMD for upper limb activity performance (SMD 0.34; 95% confidence interval): 0.04–0.63), and marginally significant MDs for perceived
upper limb activity performance (amount of use: MD 0.42; 95% confidence interval: 0.09–0.76, and quality of movement: MD 0.45; 95% confidence interval: 0.12–0.78) were
found in favour of unilateral training. All other MDs and SMDs were nonsignificant.
Conclusion:
 Unilateral and bilateral training are similarly effective. However, intervention success may depend on severity of upper limb paresis and time of intervention post-stroke.
 Key words:
rehabilitation; stroke; upper limb; systematic re-view; CIMT; bilateral arm training.J Rehabil Med 2011; 00: 00–00
Correspondence address: Lex van Delden, Faculty of Hu-man Movement Sciences; VU University Amsterdam; Van der  Boechorststraat 9; NL-1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  E-mail: l.van.delden@vu.nl
Submitted July 13, 2011; accepted October 31, 2011