Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for treating dysfunction in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods We searched the Cochrane Library (Issue 1, 2010), MEDLINE, EMbase, CBMdisc, and CNKI from the date of the database establishment to April 2010. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of rTMS for patients with PD were collected. The quality of the included RCTs was critically appraised and data were extracted by two reviewers independently. Meta-analyses were conducted for the eligible RCTs. Results Eight RCTs were included. The pooled results of the first 2 RCTs showed that, there was no significant difference compared with control group about treating PD patients with clinical motor dysfunction by high-frequency rTMS 10 days later (WMD= –4.75, 95%CI –13.73 to 4.23). The pooled analysis of another 3 studies showed that, no significant difference were found about improving symptoms with treatment of low-frequency rTMS for 1 month compared with control group (WDM= –8.51, 95%CI –18.48 to 1.46). The pooled analysis of last 3 studies showed that, patient with treatment of low-frequency rTMS for 3 months, had been significantly improved in clinical symptoms such as neurological, behavior and emotional state, clinical motor function, and activities of daily living (WDM= –5.79, 95%CI –8.44 to –1.13). The frontal or motor cortex rTMS manifested as low frequency (≤1Hz), high intensity (≥90% RMT), multi-frequency (≥3 times) and long time (≥3 months) had a positive effect on the clinical symptoms of patients with PD and also had a long-term effect. Conclusions rTMS can improve clinical symptoms and dysfunction of the patients with PD.
Objective?To evaluate Mental Imagery on rehabilitation of functions in patients with stroke. Methods?Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMbase, PEDro (www.pedro.org.au), OpenSIGLE, National Technical Information Service (NTIS), CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Data, and CBM were searched for the Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Mental Imagery on rehabilitation of functions in patients with stroke from the date of establishment of the databases to October 2010. The bibliographies of the included studies were searched, too. Three independent researchers evaluated the included studies using GRADE. The extracted data were analyzed by RevMan 5.0.25 and GRAEDprofiler 3.2.2. Results?A total 16 trials were discovered. Meta-analyses showed that at the end of 4th, 6th, and 8th, compared with conventional rehabilitation, the mental practice increased the score measured by FMA (WMD=7.81, 95%CI 1.96 to 13.65; WMD=13.89, 95%CI 4.53 to 23.25; and WMD=9.45, 95%CI 3.67 to 15.23, respectively) and ARAT (WMD=5.70, 95%CI 3.17 to 8.22, P=0.30). The 4 outcomes were all of low quality in the GRADE system. Conclusion?The current evidence shows mental practice could improve the upper limb function in patients after stroke, and the side effects of mental practice are not found in meta-analyses. Compared with other rehabilitative therapies, it is simper, of lower input costs, and of low operating costs. The clinicians should recommend it. Due to the limitations of the included studies, more large-sample, high-quality RCTs are required.