| Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in treating stroke patients with upper motor dysfunction. Methods: The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMbase, CBMdisc, CNKI and Wanfang Data were searched from their inception to January 2014, and the references of the included studies were also retrieved to collect the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on anodal tDCS in treating stroke patients with upper motor dysfunction. Two reviewers independently screened articles according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data and evaluated the quality of the included studies. The meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.0 software, and evidence quality and recommendation level were assessed using the GRADE system. Results: A total of 10 RCTs were included. The results of meta-analysis (including 7 RCTs, very low quality) showed that as compared with the sham tDCS group, the score of JTT in the a-tDCS group undergoing the stimulation of the area of primary motor cortex was increased (WMD=-3.01, 95% CI -5.18 to -0.85), but the score of upper limb FMA in the a-tDCS group was not increased (WMD=3.39, 95% CI -2.35 to 9.13). The two outcomes were all of low quality in the GRADE system. Conclusions: It is apparent from the available studies that a-tDCS may have a certain effect in treating stroke patients with upper motor dysfunction. But more large-sample, multicenter, and high-quality RCTs are required to further proof the effectiveness of a-tDCS in treating stroke patients with limb dysfunction. |
