title: Upper Limb Rehabilitation in People With Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review.
abstract: Background There has been an increasing research interest in upper limb rehabilitation in multiple sclerosis (MS). The current changes in the research field inquire a new literature review. Objective This systematic review aimed to provide an overview of the upper limb rehabilitation strategies in people with MS (PwMS). Methods Articles published in PubMed and Web of Knowledge were selected when written in English, published in the past 25 years, peer reviewed, that included at least 5 PwMS, and described the effects of an intervention study including rehabilitation strategies targeting the upper limbs. Included articles were screened based on title/abstract and full text by 2 independent reviewers. Results Thirty articles met the criteria and were included for data extraction. Only half of the included studies investigated the effects of a training program specially targeted toward the upper limbs, while in the other studies, a general whole body therapy was used. The therapy content and dosage varied greatly between the different included studies. Multidisciplinary and robot-based rehabilitation were the most investigated rehabilitation strategies and showed to improve upper limb capacity. Strength and endurance training improved the upper limb body functions and structures but did not influence the upper limb capacity and performance. Conclusions The results of this systematic review indicated that different types of upper limb rehabilitation strategies can improve upper limb function in PwMS. Further research is necessary to compare directly the effects of different rehabilitation strategies and to investigate the optimal therapy dosage according to the upper limb disability level.
authors.affiliation: REVAL - Rehabilitation Research Center, BIOMED - Biomedical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium ilse.lamers@uhasselt.be.
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lamers
authors.affiliation: REVAL - Rehabilitation Research Center, BIOMED - Biomedical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
authors.forename: Anneleen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maris
authors.affiliation: REVAL - Rehabilitation Research Center, BIOMED - Biomedical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Severijns
authors.affiliation: REVAL - Rehabilitation Research Center, BIOMED - Biomedical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dielkens
authors.affiliation: REVAL - Rehabilitation Research Center, BIOMED - Biomedical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sander
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Geurts
authors.affiliation: REVAL - Rehabilitation Research Center, BIOMED - Biomedical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium Rehabilitation and MS Center, Overpelt, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Van Wijmeersch
authors.affiliation: REVAL - Rehabilitation Research Center, BIOMED - Biomedical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Feys
mesh_terms: D016206:Databases, Bibliographic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: multiple sclerosis; rehabilitation; upper extremity