Settings matter: a scoping review on parameters in robot-assisted gait therapy identifies the importance of reporting standards
Abstract Background Lokomat therapy for gait rehabilitation has become increasingly popular. Most evidence suggests that Lokomat therapy is equally effective as but not superior to standard therapy approaches. One reason might be that the Lokomat parameters to personalize therapy, such as gait speed...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-022-01017-3 |
| _version_ | 1818127792599990272 |
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| author | Florian van Dellen Rob Labruyère |
| author_facet | Florian van Dellen Rob Labruyère |
| author_sort | Florian van Dellen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Lokomat therapy for gait rehabilitation has become increasingly popular. Most evidence suggests that Lokomat therapy is equally effective as but not superior to standard therapy approaches. One reason might be that the Lokomat parameters to personalize therapy, such as gait speed, body weight support and Guidance Force, are not optimally used. However, there is little evidence available about the influence of Lokomat parameters on the effectiveness of the therapy. Nevertheless, an appropriate reporting of the applied therapy parameters is key to the successful clinical transfer of study results. The aim of this scoping review was therefore to evaluate how the currently available clinical studies report Lokomat parameter settings and map the current literature on Lokomat therapy parameters. Methods and results A systematic literature search was performed in three databases: Pubmed, Scopus and Embase. All primary research articles performing therapy with the Lokomat in neurologic populations in English or German were included. The quality of reporting of all clinical studies was assessed with a framework developed for this particular purpose. We identified 208 studies investigating Lokomat therapy in patients with neurologic diseases. The reporting quality was generally poor. Less than a third of the studies indicate which parameter settings have been applied. The usability of the reporting for a clinical transfer of promising results is therefore limited. Conclusion Although the currently available evidence on Lokomat parameters suggests that therapy parameters might have an influence on the effectiveness, there is currently not enough evidence available to provide detailed recommendations. Nevertheless, clinicians should pay close attention to the reported therapy parameters when translating research findings to their own clinical practice. To this end, we propose that the quality of reporting should be improved and we provide a reporting framework for authors as a quality control before submitting a Lokomat-related article. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T07:22:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2abff5a70c2e424cad08d45976cc5699 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1743-0003 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T07:22:59Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation |
| spelling | doaj.art-2abff5a70c2e424cad08d45976cc56992022-12-22T01:16:02ZengBMCJournal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation1743-00032022-04-0119111310.1186/s12984-022-01017-3Settings matter: a scoping review on parameters in robot-assisted gait therapy identifies the importance of reporting standardsFlorian van Dellen0Rob Labruyère1Sensory-Motor Systems Lab, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH ZurichSwiss Children’s Rehab, University Children’s Hospital ZurichAbstract Background Lokomat therapy for gait rehabilitation has become increasingly popular. Most evidence suggests that Lokomat therapy is equally effective as but not superior to standard therapy approaches. One reason might be that the Lokomat parameters to personalize therapy, such as gait speed, body weight support and Guidance Force, are not optimally used. However, there is little evidence available about the influence of Lokomat parameters on the effectiveness of the therapy. Nevertheless, an appropriate reporting of the applied therapy parameters is key to the successful clinical transfer of study results. The aim of this scoping review was therefore to evaluate how the currently available clinical studies report Lokomat parameter settings and map the current literature on Lokomat therapy parameters. Methods and results A systematic literature search was performed in three databases: Pubmed, Scopus and Embase. All primary research articles performing therapy with the Lokomat in neurologic populations in English or German were included. The quality of reporting of all clinical studies was assessed with a framework developed for this particular purpose. We identified 208 studies investigating Lokomat therapy in patients with neurologic diseases. The reporting quality was generally poor. Less than a third of the studies indicate which parameter settings have been applied. The usability of the reporting for a clinical transfer of promising results is therefore limited. Conclusion Although the currently available evidence on Lokomat parameters suggests that therapy parameters might have an influence on the effectiveness, there is currently not enough evidence available to provide detailed recommendations. Nevertheless, clinicians should pay close attention to the reported therapy parameters when translating research findings to their own clinical practice. To this end, we propose that the quality of reporting should be improved and we provide a reporting framework for authors as a quality control before submitting a Lokomat-related article.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-022-01017-3LokomatNeurological rehabilitationGait speedBody weight supportRobotic guidancePublic Reporting of Healthcare Data |
| spellingShingle | Florian van Dellen Rob Labruyère Settings matter: a scoping review on parameters in robot-assisted gait therapy identifies the importance of reporting standards Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation Lokomat Neurological rehabilitation Gait speed Body weight support Robotic guidance Public Reporting of Healthcare Data |
| title | Settings matter: a scoping review on parameters in robot-assisted gait therapy identifies the importance of reporting standards |
| title_full | Settings matter: a scoping review on parameters in robot-assisted gait therapy identifies the importance of reporting standards |
| title_fullStr | Settings matter: a scoping review on parameters in robot-assisted gait therapy identifies the importance of reporting standards |
| title_full_unstemmed | Settings matter: a scoping review on parameters in robot-assisted gait therapy identifies the importance of reporting standards |
| title_short | Settings matter: a scoping review on parameters in robot-assisted gait therapy identifies the importance of reporting standards |
| title_sort | settings matter a scoping review on parameters in robot assisted gait therapy identifies the importance of reporting standards |
| topic | Lokomat Neurological rehabilitation Gait speed Body weight support Robotic guidance Public Reporting of Healthcare Data |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-022-01017-3 |
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