SynthesisJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation2023
Effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation on balance and gait in patients with multiple sclerosis: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.
Synthesis in Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on motor function in patients with multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of non-invasive brain stimulation on balance control in patients with multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of robot-assisted gait training on improving cardiopulmonary function in stroke patients: a meta-analysis.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy of Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Degenerative Ataxia. A Sham-Controlled Clinical and Quantitative Analysis.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2026Trial
- A double-blind randomized control trial of transcranial direct current stimulation in post-stroke fatigue.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Trial
- The Additive Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Combined With Exercise-Based Rehabilitation Interventions on Balance, Ankle Kinematics, and Muscle Activity in Individuals With Ankle Instability: A Systematic Review.Health science reports · 2026Review
- Article
- The polarity of high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation affects the planning and execution of movement sequences.NeuroImage · 2025Article
- The Potential of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Improving Quality of Life in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Review and Discussion of Mechanisms of Action.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Efficacy of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Multiple Sclerosis (MS)-A Review and Insight into Possible Mechanisms of Action.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Effects of Transcranial and Trans-Spinal Direct Current Stimulation Combined with Robot-Assisted Gait Training on Gait and Fatigue in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Sham-Controlled Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Spotlight on pro-inflammatory chemokines: regulators of cellular communication in cognitive impairment.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Transcranial direct current stimulation for patients with walking difficulties caused by cerebral small vessel disease: a randomized controlled study.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMotor impairments are very common in neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Noninvasive brain stimulation could influence the motor function of patients.
objectiveThe aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on balance and gait ability in patients with multiple sclerosis. Additionally, a secondary aim was to compare the influence of the stimulation location of tDCS on current effectiveness.
methodsA search was conducted for randomized controlled trials published up to May 2023 comparing the application of tDCS versus a sham or control group. The primary outcome variables were balance and gait ability.
resultsEleven studies were included in the qualitative analysis, and ten were included in the quantitative analysis, which included 230 patients with multiple sclerosis. The average effect of tDCS on gait functionality was superior to that of the control group (SMD = -0.71; 95% CI, -1.05 to -0.37). However, the overall results of the tDCS vs. sham effect on static balance did not show significant differences between groups (MD = 1.26, 95% CI, -1.31 to 3.82). No significant differences were found when different locations of tDCS were compared.
conclusionsThese results reveal that tDCS is an effective treatment for improving gait ability with a low quality of evidence. However, the application of tDCS has no effect on static balance in patients with multiple sclerosis with very low quality of evidence. Similarly, there seems to be no difference regarding the stimulation area with tDCS.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.