title: Systematic review of mirror therapy compared with conventional rehabilitation in upper extremity function in stroke survivors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Stroke is a leading cause of disability in developed countries. One of the most widespread techniques in clinical practice is mirror therapy (MT). To determine the effectiveness of MT over other methods of intervention in the recovery of upper limb function in people who have had a stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic review was conducted. The search string was established based on the last systematic review about MT that dated from 2009: "upper extremity" OR "upper limb "AND "mirror therapy" AND stroke. For this search Pubmed, Scopus and SciELO databases were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifteen studies were included in the systematic review. Recovery of the upper limb, upper limb function and gross manual dexterity were frequently measured in these studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the primary variables in promoting recovery, MT alone showed better results in acute and chronic stroke patients in upper limb functioning than either conventional rehabilitation (CR) or CR plus MT. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42015026869.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, University of Malaga, Clinimetric Group FE-14 Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga (IBIMA), Malaga, Spain.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pérez-Cruzado
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, University of Malaga, Clinimetric Group FE-14 Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga (IBIMA), Malaga, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Merchán-Baeza
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, University of Jaen, Jaen, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: González-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, University of Malaga, Clinimetric Group FE-14 Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga (IBIMA), Malaga, Spain.|School of Clinical Sciences of the Faculty of Health at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Antonio I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Cuesta-Vargas
mesh_terms: D056228:Feedback, Sensory; D006801:Humans; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology; D020521:Stroke / Q000628:therapy*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods*; D017741:Survivors; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: conventional rehabilitation; mirror therapy; occupational therapy; stroke; upper extremity