Introduction: Telerehabilitation is an alternative approach to physiotherapy that offers post-stroke patients procedures to continue their rehabilitation at home. Common forms of telerehabilitation include the use of telecommunication systems and virtual reality training. Purpose: The aim of this diploma work was to review research findings on the effectiveness of balance and functional training in post-stroke patients with telerehabilitation compared to in-person training. Methods: PubMed, CINAHL, PEDro and the Cochrane Library were used for the literature search. The studies included in our review focused on the effectiveness of balance and functional training in stroke patients with telerehabilitation compared to in-person training. Results: We included 8 randomised controlled trials published between 2012 and 2020. In five studies, the authors focused on the effectiveness of telerehabilitation using virtual reality, and in three studies using telecommunication systems. In all studies, both groups made progress, but often without statistically significant differences between groups. Among the studies using telecommunication systems, two (out of three) reported improvements in functional status, balance and quality of life in favour of the experimental group. Among the studies that used virtual reality training, one study (out of five) reported improvements in balance and greater independence in task performance, in favour of the experimental group. Conclusion: Telerehabilitation has been shown to be as or more effective at improving balance than in person rehabilitation in stroke patients. Further research is needed with larger numbers of subjects and more uniform measurement tools.
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