Abstract
Background
Multiple sclerosis refers to a progressive autoimmune inflammatory disease in the
central nervous system usually accompanied by balance disorder. Our systematic review
aimed to investigate the effects of orthotic devices on balance control of multiple
sclerosis patients.
Methods
The search procedure was according to the population, intervention, comparison, and
outcome (PICO) strategy. We looked into PubMed, Embase, ISI Web of Knowledge, and
Scopus databases and included all studies published since 1980. Two researchers did
the searches separately and evaluated the selected papers’ quality based on the physiotherapy
evidence database (PEDro) scale and Cochrane risk of bias tool. We did a meta-analysis
to evaluate the interventions’ effects on the balance factors.
Results
We found nine studies, of which seven studies with 162 participants were included
in our meta-analysis. Four studies investigated the effect of foot orthoses, one evaluated
the effect of shoe modifications and four evaluated the effect of ankle foot orthoses.
There was no significant immediate difference between the insole and control groups
in center of pressure velocity change, C7 displacement, in both open and closed eyes
conditions. Also, there was no significant immediate difference between ankle foot
orthosis’ intervention and control groups in center of pressure velocity and displacement
changes in antero-posterior and medio-lateral directions, in both open and closed
eyes conditions. We could not do a meta-analysis for shoe modification.
Conclusion
Few studies have assessed the effects of orthoses on balance control in multiple sclerosis
patients. Studies on ankle foot and foot orthoses show inconsistent results. According
to our meta-analysis, orthotic interventions do not seem to improve the balance of
people with multiple sclerosis.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 05, 2022
Accepted:
June 26,
2022
Received in revised form:
June 15,
2022
Received:
December 5,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
