Efficacy of electrical stimulation to increase muscle strength in people with neurological conditions: a systematic review

Abstract

Several studies suggest a modest beneficial effect of electrical stimulation in patients with stroke. It is not clear whether patients with other types of neurological disabilities benefit from electrical stimulation in the same way.

Effects of long-term resistance training and simultaneous electro-stimulation on muscle strength and functional mobility in multiple sclerosis

“…Given the fact that there is a common believe that the effectiveness of resistance training can be enhanced by the addition of electrical stimulation [14], simultaneous electro-stimulation may be an interesting strategy to improve rehabilitation outcome. So far, only one study explored the use of electro-stimulation combined with active anti-gravity assisted exercise in MS [14].…”

“…So far, only one study explored the use of electro-stimulation combined with active anti-gravity assisted exercise in MS [14]. Although the authors reported a treatment effect (+26% increase from initial muscle strength), a control group lacked.…”

Electrical stimulation plus progressive resistance training for leg strength in spinal cord injury: A randomized controlled trial

“…there is no direct evidence from clinical trials to suggest that voluntary strength is increased by superimposing ES on PRT 4,9,10 or by superimposing ES on any type of voluntary exercise in people with muscle paresis. [11][12][13] Therefore, the primary purpose of this trial was to determine the clinical effectiveness of ES superimposed on PRT for increasing voluntary strength in the paretic quadriceps muscles of people with SCI.…”

Towards evidence-based classification in Paralympic athletics: evaluating the validity of activity limitation tests for use in classification of Paralympic running events

“…This is because, although eligible impairments are permanent, many types of impairment are, to varying degrees, responsive to training. For example, while people with incomplete spinal cord injury and spastic hypertonia may have permanently impaired muscle strength, changes in the strength of affected muscle groups can be induced by chronic disuse or resistance training 4 5. It is vital that athletes who have positively influenced their impairment scores through effective training are not competitively disadvantaged by being placed into a class for athletes with less severe impairments 1…”