Table 1.
Characteristics of participants in the included studies
| Study | Study design | Sample size (E/C) | Age (yr) | Gender (M/F) | Onset time | Hemiparesis (R/L) | Stroke type (infarction/hemorrhage) |
| Cha et al. (2014) | RCT | 12/12 | 53.08±7.65 | 11/13 | 2.92±1.31/3.58±0.90 mon | 10/14 | 9/15 |
| Cha and Kim (2015) | RCT | 15/15 | 60.72±12.36 | 13/27 | 14.45±3.14/14.13±1.55 mon | 12/18 | 10/20 |
| Cha and Kim (2017) | RCT | 10/10 | 54.8±14.56 | 10/10 | 3.90±1.59/4.20±1.22 mon | 11/9 | 7/13 |
| Chang et al. (2010) | RCT | 10/18 | 56.61±12.21 | 11/17 | 12.9±5.2/14.4±5.9 d | 13/15 | NR |
| Chen (2018) | RCT | 70/70 | 53.25±11.92 | 105/35 | 31.6±17.9/27.6±19.3 mon | 72/68 | 97/41 |
| Chieffo et al. (2014) | Crossover | 10 | 62.2±9.70 | NR | 212±6.91 d | 6/4 | 5/5 |
| Choi et al. (2016) | Crossover | 30 | 67.9±4.59 | 3/27 | 49.6±28.3/44.0±29.9 mon | 15/15 | 30/0 |
| Du et al. (2016) | RCT | 23/23/23 | 55.72±11.6 | 45/24 | 7(4–16)/6(5–12)/8(3–24) d# | NR | 69/0 |
| Elkholy et al. (2014) | RCT | 30/15 | 44.59±3.93 | 23/22 | 2.53±0.52/2.53±0.52 mon | 0/45 | NR |
| Forogh et al. (2017) | RCT | 13/13 | 53–79* | 10/16 | NR | 8/18 | NR |
| Guan et al. (2017) | RCT | 21/21 | 58.55±10.93 | 12/30 | 3.8±3.4/4.8±4.1 d | 19/23 | 42/0 |
| Huang et al. (2018) | RCT | 18/20 | 61.67±9.76 | 23/15 | 31.3±25.5/25.9±18.1 d | 17/21 | 25/13 |
| Ji et al. (2014) | RCT | 15/14 | 46.68±10.01 | 12/17 | 6.26±2.65/6.35±2.97 mon | 14/15 | 15/14 |
| Ji and Kim (2015) | RCT | 20/19 | 56±9.58 | 23/16 | 1.9±0.72/1.68±0.58 mon | 20/19 | 12/27 |
| Kakuda et al. (2013) | Crossover | 18 | 52.1±11.9 | 5/13 | 52.8±30.7 mon | 12/6 | 5/13 |
| Kim et al. (2014b) | RCT | 10/22 | 66.59±9.08 | 17/15 | 16.2±13.0/15.1±5.1 d | NR | 32/0 |
| Koch et al. (2019) | RCT | 17/17 | 64±11.3 | 21/13 | 13.06±16.94 mon | 20/14 | 34/0 |
| Lin et al. (2015) | RCT | 16/16 | 60.3±11.26 | 11/21 | 40.6±29.1/33.5±23.8 d | 15/17 | 10/22 |
| Lin et al. (2019) | RCT | 10/10 | 60.95±8.7 | 3/17 | 359±171/384±270 d | 9/11 | 4/16 |
| Liu et al. (2019) | RCT | 18/18/18 | 59.33±6.52 | 37/17 | NR | NR | 54/0 |
| Meng and Song (2017) | RCT | 10/10 | 65±9.35 | 3/17 | NR | NR | 20/0 |
| Rastgoo et al. (2016) | Crossover | 20 | 52.15±11.51 | 4/16 | 30.2±18.3/27.4±20.1 mon | 7/13 | 5/15 |
| Wang et al. (2012) | RCT | 12/12 | 63.9±11.44 | 9/15 | 1.84±1.16/2.00±1.23 yr | 10/14 | NR |
| Wang et al. (2016) | RCT | 15/15 | 64.6±14.32 | 16/14 | 2.05±1.35/1.98±1.12 yr | NR | NR |
| Wang et al. (2019) | RCT | 8/6 | 54.01±12.6 | 11/3 | 31.8±24.0/25.3±15.7 mon | 8/6 | 6/8 |
| Zhao et al. (2018) | RCT | 36/39 | 55.14±12.06 | 47/28 | 4.0±2.0/4.3±3.1 mon | 36/39 | 38/37 |
Data are expressed as the mean ± SD for age and onset time, while other data are expressed as numbers. *Age range. #Mean (range). C: Control group; E: experimental group; F: female; M: male; NR: not reported; RCT: randomized controlled trial.