Influence of wearable rhythmic auditory stimulation on Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Movement therapy using Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) has been proven beneficial in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, research regarding RAS-therapy using wearable devices in all neurological disorders is needed. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of RAS-therapy using wearable devices on movement in individuals with neurological disorders. Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources June 27, 2024. PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, PEDro and ScienceDirect were searched. Following PRISMA-guidelines 2020. Inclusion criteria: all neurological disorders, Rhythmic auditory stimulation, wearable devices, movement parameters, studies written in Dutch or English. Exclusion criteria: non-neurological disorders, children, animals, healthy individuals, other interventions, EMG and EEG outcome parameters, patient reported outcome parameters, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and other languages besides Dutch or English. Risk of bias was assessed using the QualSyst tool. 7993 articles after double-blind screening; thirty studies were included in the review and fifteen in the meta-analysis. Results showed improvements in stride length, step length, gait velocity, double support time, arm swing peak velocity and arm swing ROM. The meta-analysis confirmed significant improvements in gait velocity and stride length within a longitudinal design as well as when compared to a control group. Improvement in cadence was only significant in a longitudinal design but non-significant when compared to a control group (p = 0.247). RAS-therapy can be implemented for rehabilitation of PD, MS and stroke.