[Efficacy of Music Therapy in Functional Recovery of the Upper Limb After a Stroke: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis]

Abstract

Introduction: Formal therapeutic interventions based on music have been used in rehabilitation to stimulate the brain functions involved in movement.

Objective: The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis following the PRISMA recommendations on the effectiveness of music therapy in improving the functionality of the upper limb in patients with hemiparesis secondary to stroke.

Methods: A search of the Pubmed, clinicaltrials.gov and Cochrane databases was performed in September 2018. The articles included in this review had to meet the following criteria: randomised controlled trials with therapeutic interventions that evaluated improvement in manual dexterity, measured with the box and block test in patients older than 18 years with a residual deficit secondary to an ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke in the previous months.

Results: Of 371 studies analysed, six were included in the study and subsequent meta-analysis with a total of 149 patients. The musical interventions improved the functionality of the parietal limb in patients with stroke compared with that in controls who received conventional treatment. This effect was statistically significant in the meta-analysis, with a difference in the standardised mean in the box and block test of 0.40 (95% CI 0.09 - 0.72).

Conclusions: Musical interventions could be beneficial for the functional recovery of the upper extremity. These results are encouraging but a greater number of clinical trials are required to confirm these findings before their subsequent implementation in clinical practice.

Keywords: Ictus; Meta-analysis; Meta-análisis; Music therapy; Neurorehabilitación; Neurorehabilitation; Plasticidad; Plasticity; Stroke; Terapia musical.