RT Journal Article T1 Is Virtual Reality Effective for Balance Recovery in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis A1 De Miguel-Rubio, Amaranta A1 Rubio, M. Dolores A1 Salazar, Alejandro A1 Moral-Munoz, Jose A. A1 Requena, Francisco A1 Camacho, Rocio A1 Lucena-Anton, David K1 Virtual reality K1 Spinal cord injuries K1 Neurological rehabilitation K1 Postural balance K1 Physical therapy K1 Realidad virtual K1 Traumatismos de la médula espinal K1 Rehabilitación neurológica K1 Equilibrio postural K1 Modalidades de fisioterapia AB Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging tool used in the neurological rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), focused on recovering balance, mobility, and motor function, among other functional outcomes. The main objective of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of VR systems to recover balance in patients with SCI. The literature search was performed between October and December 2019 in the following databases: Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, Scopus, Medline, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), PubMed, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. The methodological quality of each study was assessed using the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence (SCIRE) system and the PEDro scale, while the risk of bias was analyzed by the Cochrane Collaboration's tool. A total of 12 studies, involving 188 participants, were included in the systematic review, of which two were included in the meta-analysis. Statistical analysis showed favorable results for balance measured by the modified Functional Reach Test (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 3.42; 95% confidence interval: 2.54 to 4.29) and by the t-shirt test (SMD= -2.29; 95% confidence interval: -3.00 to -1.59). The results showed that VR interventions provided potential benefits, in addition to conventional physical therapy, to recover balance in patients with SCI. PB MDPI YR 2020 FD 2020-09-04 LK http://hdl.handle.net/10668/4310 UL http://hdl.handle.net/10668/4310 LA en NO Miguel-Rubio A, Rubio MD, Salazar A, Moral-Munoz JA, Requena F, Camacho R, et al. Is Virtual Reality Effective for Balance Recovery in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Clin Med. 2020 Sep 4;9(9):2861 DS RISalud RD Apr 16, 2025