Author: Tae-Young Choi1, Ji Hee Jun1, Hye Won Lee2, Jong-Min Yun3, Min Cheol Joo4, Myeong Soo Lee1
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> KM Science Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea.
<sup>2</sup> KM Convergence Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea.
<sup>3</sup> Department of Korean Internal Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, South Korea.
<sup>4</sup> Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Institute of Wonkwang Medical Science, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Iksan, South Korea.
Conference/Journal: Front Neurol
Date published: 2022 May 17
Other:
Volume ID: 13 , Pages: 885095 , Special Notes: doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.885095. , Word Count: 290
Evidence mapping of systematic reviews (SRs) systematically and comprehensively identifies, organizes, and summarizes the distribution of scientific evidence in a field. The aim of this evidence map is to provide a synopsis of the best clinical practices and interventions in stroke rehabilitative care and to identify areas with a paucity of evidence to guide future research. PubMed, EMBASE, CDSR, six Korean databases, and two Chinese databases were searched for SRs evaluating the effectiveness of any stroke rehabilitation intervention through October 2021. The quality of the SRs was assessed using AMSTAR 2. A bubble plot was used to graphically display clinical topics, the number of articles, the number of patients included, confidence, and effectiveness. In total, ninety-five SRs were identified; however, after methodological analysis, only 48 had sufficient quality to be included. In total, forty-eight SRs were included in the evidence mapping. The overall search identified SRs from 2015 to 2021. A total of four SRs focused on post-stroke cognitive impairment, whereas the other forty-four SRs focused on post-stroke motor function. In total, nineteen different traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) intervention modalities were included. Acupuncture was the most commonly used treatment. Overall, the quality of the included SRs was low or very low. Most SRs concluded that TCM interventions may have potential benefits in stroke rehabilitation. The results were more promising when acupuncture was used for shoulder-hand syndrome. However, the identified reviews cautioned that firm conclusions cannot be drawn. The evidence map provides a visual overview of the research volume and content involving TCM interventions in stroke rehabilitation. Evidence mapping can facilitate the process of knowledge translation from scientific findings to researchers and policymakers and possibly reduce waste in research.
Keywords: TCM; acupuncture; evidence map; evidence synthesis; overview; stroke rehabilitation; systematic review.
PMID: 35655620 PMCID: PMC9152210 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022.885095