scholarly journals Physical therapy interventions for older people with vertigo, dizziness and balance disorders addressing mobility and participation: a systematic review

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verena Regauer ◽  
Eva Seckler ◽  
Martin Müller ◽  
Petra Bauer

Abstract Background Vertigo, dizziness and balance disorders (VDB) are among the most relevant contributors to the burden of disability among older adults living in the community and associated with immobility, limitations of activities of daily living and decreased participation. The aim of this study was to identify the quality of evidence of physical therapy interventions that address mobility and participation in older patients with VDB and to characterize the used primary and secondary outcomes. Methods A systematic search via MEDLINE (PubMed), Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PEDro, forward citation tracing and hand search was conducted initially in 11/2017 and updated in 7/2019. We included individual and cluster-randomized controlled trials and trials with quasi-experimental design, published between 2007 and 2017/2019 and including individuals ≥ 65 years with VDB. Physical therapy and related interventions were reviewed with no restrictions to outcome measurement. Screening of titles, abstracts and full texts, data extraction and critical appraisal was conducted by two independent researchers. The included studies were heterogeneous in terms of interventions and outcome measures. Therefore, a narrative synthesis was conducted. Results A total of 20 randomized and 2 non-randomized controlled trials with 1,876 patients met the inclusion criteria. The included studies were heterogeneous in terms of complexity of interventions, outcome measures and methodological quality. Vestibular rehabilitation (VR) was examined in twelve studies, computer-assisted VR (CAVR) in five, Tai Chi as VR (TCVR) in three, canal repositioning manoeuvres (CRM) in one and manual therapy (MT) in one study. Mixed effects were found regarding body structure/function and activities/participation. Quality of life and/or falls were assessed, with no differences between groups. VR is with moderate quality of evidence superior to usual care to improve balance, mobility and symptoms. Conclusion To treat older individuals with VDB, VR in any variation and in addition to CRMs seems to be effective. High-quality randomized trials need to be conducted to inform clinical decision making.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verena Regauer ◽  
Eva Seckler ◽  
Martin Müller ◽  
Petra Bauer

Abstract Background: Vertigo, dizziness and balance disorders (VDB) are among the most relevant contributors to the burden of disability among older adults living in the community and associated with immobility, limitations of activities of daily living and decreased participation. The aim of this study was to identify the quality of evidence of physical therapy interventions that address mobility and participation in older patients with VDB and to characterize the used primary and secondary outcomes. Methods: A systematic search via MEDLINE (PubMed), Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PEDro, forward citation tracing and hand search was conducted initially in 11/2017 and updated in 7/2019. We included individual and cluster-randomized controlled trials and trials with quasi-experimental design, published between 2007 and 2017/2019 and including individuals ≥ 65 years with VDB. Physical therapy and related interventions were reviewed with no restrictions to outcome measurement. Screening of titles, abstracts and full texts, data extraction and critical appraisal was conducted by two independent researchers. The included studies were heterogeneous in terms of interventions and outcome measures. Therefore, a narrative synthesis was conducted. Results: A total of 20 randomized and 2 non-randomized controlled trials with 1,876 patients met the inclusion criteria. The included studies were heterogeneous in terms of complexity of interventions, outcome measures and methodological quality. Vestibular rehabilitation (VR) was examined in twelve studies, computer-assisted VR (CAVR) in five, Tai Chi as VR (TCVR) in three, canal repositioning manoeuvres (CRM) in one and manual therapy (MT) in one study. Mixed effects were found regarding body structure/function and activities/participation. Quality of life and/or falls were assessed, with no differences between groups. VR is with moderate quality of evidence superior to usual care to improve balance, mobility and symptoms. Conclusion: To treat older individuals with VDB, VR in any variation and in addition to CRMs seems to be effective. High-quality randomized trials need to be conducted to inform clinical decision making.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verena Regauer ◽  
Eva Seckler ◽  
Martin Müller ◽  
Petra Bauer

Abstract Background: Vertigo, dizziness and balance disorders (VDB) are among the most relevant contributors to the burden of disability among older adults living in the community and associated with immobility, limitations of activities of daily living and decreased participation. The aim of this study was to identify the quality of evidence of physical therapy interventions that address mobility and participation in older patients with VDB and to characterize the used primary and secondary outcomes.Methods: A systematic search via MEDLINE (PubMed), Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PEDro, forward citation tracing and hand search was conducted initially in 11/2017 and updated in 7/2019. We included individual and cluster-randomized controlled trials and trials with quasi-experimental design, published between 2007 and 2017/2019 and including individuals ≥ 65 years with VDB. Physical therapy and related interventions were reviewed with no restrictions to outcome measurement. Screening of titles, abstracts and full texts, data extraction and critical appraisal was conducted by two independent researchers. The included studies were heterogeneous in terms of interventions and outcome measures. Therefore, a narrative synthesis was conducted.Results: A total of 20 randomized and 2 non-randomized controlled trials with 1,876 patients met the inclusion criteria. The included studies were heterogeneous in terms of complexity of interventions, outcome measures and methodological quality. Vestibular rehabilitation (VR) was examined in twelve studies, computer-assisted VR (CAVR) in five, Tai Chi as VR (TCVR) in three, canal repositioning manoeuvres (CRM) in one and manual therapy (MT) in one study. Mixed effects were found regarding body structure/function and activities/participation. Quality of life and/or falls were assessed, with no differences between groups. VR is with moderate quality of evidence superior to usual care to improve balance, mobility and symptoms.Conclusion: To treat older individuals with VDB, VR in any variation and in addition to CRMs seems to be effective. High-quality randomized trials need to be conducted to inform clinical decision making.Trial Registration: PROSPERO 2017 CRD42017080291.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Verena Regauer ◽  
Eva Seckler ◽  
Martin Müller ◽  
Petra Bauer

Abstract Background Vertigo, dizziness and balance disorders (VDB) are among the most relevant contributors to the burden of disability among older adults living in the community and associated with immobility, limitations of activities of daily living and decreased participation. The aim of this study was to identify the quality of evidence of physical therapy interventions that address mobility and participation in older patients with VDB and to characterize the used primary and secondary outcomes. Methods A systematic search via MEDLINE (PubMed), Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PEDro, forward citation tracing and hand search was conducted initially in 11/2017 and updated in 7/2019. We included individual and cluster-randomized controlled trials and trials with quasi-experimental design, published between 2007 and 2017/2019 and including individuals ≥65 years with VDB. Physical therapy and related interventions were reviewed with no restrictions to outcome measurement. Screening of titles, abstracts and full texts, data extraction and critical appraisal was conducted by two independent researchers. The included studies were heterogeneous in terms of interventions and outcome measures. Therefore, a narrative synthesis was conducted. Results A total of 20 randomized and 2 non-randomized controlled trials with 1876 patients met the inclusion criteria. The included studies were heterogeneous in terms of complexity of interventions, outcome measures and methodological quality. Vestibular rehabilitation (VR) was examined in twelve studies, computer-assisted VR (CAVR) in five, Tai Chi as VR (TCVR) in three, canal repositioning manoeuvres (CRM) in one and manual therapy (MT) in one study. Mixed effects were found regarding body structure/function and activities/participation. Quality of life and/or falls were assessed, with no differences between groups. VR is with moderate quality of evidence superior to usual care to improve balance, mobility and symptoms. Conclusion To treat older individuals with VDB, VR in any variation and in addition to CRMs seems to be effective. High-quality randomized trials need to be conducted to inform clinical decision making. Trial registration PROSPERO 2017 CRD42017080291.


Cartilage ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 194760352093117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Filardo ◽  
Davide Previtali ◽  
Francesca Napoli ◽  
Christian Candrian ◽  
Stefano Zaffagnini ◽  
...  

Objective To evaluate effectiveness, in terms of patient-reported outcome measures, of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections for knee osteoarthritis compared to placebo and other intraarticular treatments. Design PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, as well as the gray literature were searched on January 17, 2020. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing PRP injections with placebo or other injectable treatments, in any language, on humans, were included. Risk of bias was assessed following the Cochrane guidelines; quality of evidence was graded using the GRADE guidelines. Results Thirty-four RCTs, including 1403 knees in PRP groups and 1426 in control groups, were selected. WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index) score favored PRP, with a statistically and clinically significant difference versus placebo at 12-month follow-up ( P = 0.02) and versus HA (hyaluronic acid) at 6-month ( P < 0.001) and 12-month ( P < 0.001) follow-ups. A clinically significant difference favoring PRP versus steroids was documented for VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) pain ( P < 0.001), KOOS (Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score) pain ( P < 0.001), function in daily activities ( P = 0.001), and quality of life ( P < 0.001) at 6-month follow-up. However, superiority of PRP did not reach the minimal clinically important difference for all outcomes, and quality of evidence was low. Conclusions The effect of platelet concentrates goes beyond its mere placebo effect, and PRP injections provide better results than other injectable options. This benefit increases over time, being not significant at earlier follow-ups but becoming clinically significant after 6 to 12 months. However, although substantial, the improvement remains partial and supported by low level of evidence. This finding urges further research to confirm benefits and identify the best formulation and indications for PRP injections in knee OA.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Cheng ◽  
Xiao-long Ye ◽  
Xu-jun Qin ◽  
Yi Wan ◽  
Meng Xu

Abstract Background: The efficacy of interventions for elderly patients with sarcopenia has received increasing attention. Exercise and nutrition have been recognized as effective treatments for sarcopenia in many studies. However, evidence-based support from relevant studies is still lacking. Methods: The PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, VIP, CNKI, and SinoMed databases were searched. The basis for the diagnosis of sarcopenia, general condition of the subjects, duration and methods of exercise/nutritional therapy, outcome indicators, and quality of evidence were evaluated, and a meta-analysis of differences in treatment outcomes between the groups from baseline to the end of each study was conducted. Results: A total of 1860 papers were screened, including six randomized controlled trials, and the effects of protein intervention under exercise conditions on muscle mass, strength, and function in elderly patients with sarcopenia were investigated. The results showed that protein supplementation under resistance exercise conditions had the following effects on elderly patients with sarcopenia: there was a significant difference in knee flexion and extension strength (p = 0.02), grip strength (p = 0.02), fat mass (p = 0.04), and normal pace and pace (p = 0.0008 and p = 0.0010, respectively) between the intervention group and baseline data.Conclusion: The meta-analysis revealed some positive effects of protein intervention treatment under exercise conditions on elderly patients with sarcopenia. However, the quality of evidence is low. High-quality randomized controlled trials should be conducted in the future to provide a better clinical basis. Keywords: Sarcopenia, Exercise, Proteins


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-427
Author(s):  
Ercole da Cruz Rubini ◽  
Fabio Dutra Pereira ◽  
Renato Sobral Monteiro-Junior ◽  
Patricia Zaidan ◽  
Cintia Pereira de Souza ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction: randomized controlled trials are high quality studies. Many problems related to the drafting of these studies have been identified and consequently various national and international journals, in an attempt to improve this writing, have adopted the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials recommendations. Regarding the studies written specifically by physical therapists, until now, the quality of the drafting in Portuguese has been unknown. Aim: To critically analyze the drafting of RCTs in the area of physical therapy, published in Portuguese, in relation to the CONSORT recommendations. Materials and Methods: On 17th Oct, 2012, 548 RCTs in Portuguese were recovered from the MEDLINE and PEDro databases, which were divided among four evaluators who, after reading the abstracts, selected those related to physical therapy. Of these studies, 78 RCTs were related to physical therapy, which were divided among the four evaluators for the analysis of the drafting according to the CONSORT recommendations. The four evaluators who participated in this study previously obtained a median kappa above 70% when their analyses were compared to the analyses of the evaluator considered the gold standard due to having greater experience. Results: The quantity of items of the CONSORT recommendations according to year of publication was very small, corresponding to a mean of 43% of the items in the articles analyzed. Conclusion: The results make very clear the need to improve the quality of the drafting of the RCTs related to physical therapy in Portuguese and to include more rigorous methodological procedures, such as sample size, randomization and blinding. The dissemination and adoption of the CONSORT recommendations by physical therapy researchers would, without doubt, be a big step towards improving this quality.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andres Jung ◽  
Julia Balzer ◽  
Tobias Braun ◽  
Kerstin Luedtke

Abstract Background: Internal and external validity are the most relevant components when critically appraising randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for systematic reviews. However, there is no gold standard to assess external validity. This might be related to the heterogeneity of terminology as well as to unclear evidence of the measurement properties of available tools. The aim of this review was to identify tools to assess the external validity of RCTs in systematic reviews and to evaluate the quality of evidence regarding their measurement properties.Methods: A two-phase systematic literature search was performed in four databases: MEDLINE via PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO via OVID, and CINAHL via EBSCO. First, tools to assess the external validity of RCTs were identified. Second, studies aiming to investigate the measurement properties of these tools were selected. The measurement properties of each included tool were appraised using an adapted version of the COnsensus based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) guidelines.Results: 34 publications reporting on the development or validation of 26 included tools were included. For 62% of the included tools, there was no evidence of any measurement property. For the remaining tools, reliability was assessed most frequently. Reliability was judged as “sufficient” for three tools (very low quality of evidence). Content validity was rated as “sufficient” for one tool (moderate quality of evidence).Conclusions: Based on these results, no available tool can be fully recommended to assess the external validity of RCTs in systematic reviews. Several steps are required to overcome the identified difficulties to either adapt and validate available tools or to develop a new one. There is a need for more research for this purpose.Trial registration: Prospective registration at Open Science Framework (OSF): https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PTG4D


Author(s):  
Thi Mai Nguyen ◽  
Thi Thanh Toan Do ◽  
Tho Nhi Tran ◽  
Jin Hee Kim

Menopausal symptoms are associated with deterioration in physical, mental, and sexual health, lowering women’s quality of life (QoL). Our study objective is to examine the effect of exercise on QoL in women with menopausal symptoms. After initially identifying 1306 studies published on PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Library before June 2020, two researchers independently selected nine randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which any type of exercise was compared with no active treatment. We assessed the risk of bias in the included studies using the Cochrane risk-of-bias 2.0 tool for RCTs and computed the converged standardized mean difference with a 95% confidence interval. We found evidences for the positive effects of exercise on physical and psychological QoL scores in women with menopausal symptoms. However, there was no evidence for the effects of exercise on general, social, and menopause-specific QoL scores. The most common interventions for women with menopausal and urinary symptoms were yoga and pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT), respectively. In our meta-analyses, while yoga significantly improved physical QoL, its effects on general, psychological, sexual, and vasomotor symptoms QoL scores as well as the effect of PFMT on general QoL were not significant. Our findings suggest that well-designed studies are needed to confirm the effect of exercise on QoL in women with menopausal symptoms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Li-Na Ge ◽  
Lin Wang ◽  
Feng Wang

To evaluate the necessity and safety of preoperative oral carbohydrates in enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols for diabetes mellitus patients. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and WANFANG databases for articles published through September 2018. We used the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool to assess the methodological quality of included studies. Literature screening, data extraction, and quality evaluation were performed independently by two investigators. Of the 6328 retrieved articles, five eligible randomized controlled trials were included. Two were from China and three were from Germany, Sweden, and Canada. Preoperative oral carbohydrates may facilitate control of preoperative blood glucose, improve postoperative insulin resistance in diabetes patients, and decrease the occurrence of adverse reactions. However, the overall quality of the included studies was low. The available evidence shows that preoperative oral carbohydrates are probably beneficial for patients with diabetes mellitus. High-quality, large randomized controlled trials are needed to verify our findings and provide quantitative results.


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