Trial reportPloS one2025
Effects of occupational therapy synchronized with dual transcranial direct current stimulation on upper limb function and electroencephalography power in subacute stroke patients: A randomized, double-blind, controlled study.
Trial report in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 2 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
5 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Completion rate and safety of non-invasive brain stimulation for upper limb dysfunction after stroke: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of non-invasive neural stimulation modalities on upper limb function in subacute stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurologyPooled it
- Review
- Correlation between brain symmetry index and motor function in Parkinson's disease: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Live Effects of Anodal and Cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Brain Metabolism in a Patient with Typical Hemorrhagic Stroke: A Case Study.Brain sciences · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOccupational therapy (OT) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) are both important methods for promoting the recovery after stroke. There are limited researches that simultaneously apply both methods and investigate their effects on upper limb function.
objectiveTo investigate the effects of OT synchronized with dual tDCS on upper limb motor function and Electroencephalogram (EEG) power in subacute stroke patients.
methodsForty-five subacute stroke patients were randomly assigned to control group (n = 23) and experimental group (n = 22), receiving sham and real dual tDCS concurrent with OT respectively, five times a week, for a duration of two weeks. Upper limb motor function and cortical EEG power were evaluated by Fugl-Meyer Assessment Upper Extremity (FMA-UE), Modified Barthel Index (MBI) and Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), Delta/Alpha Ratio (DAR) and pairwise derived Brain Symmetry Index (pdBSI) at baseline and two weeks.
resultsFinally, a total of 39 patients completed the study and were included in the analysis. The results revealed that participants in the experimental group showed a significant better evolution for FMA-UE (p < 0.001), MBI (p = 0.034), DAR in the primary motor cortex (M1) area (p = 0.022) and pdBSI (p = 0.025) compared to the control group.
conclusionsIn subacute stroke patients, the central-peripheral combined stimulation approach, which involves dual tDCS (central stimulation) and synchronous OT (peripheral sensory-motor stimulation) enhanced the effects of OT alone, leading to greater improvements in upper limb function and normalization of brain activity.
trial registrationThis trial was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (No. ChiCTR2400082749).
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.