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Review
. 2021 Sep 5;11(9):1176.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci11091176.

Physical Therapy Exercises for Sleep Disorders in a Rehabilitation Setting for Neurological Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Marco Tramontano  1 , Sara De Angelis  1 , Giovanni Galeoto  2   3 , Maria Carmela Cucinotta  1 , Danilo Lisi  4 , Riccardo Maria Botta  5 , Mariagrazia D'ippolito  1 , Giovanni Morone  1 , Maria Gabriella Buzzi  1
Affiliations
Review

Physical Therapy Exercises for Sleep Disorders in a Rehabilitation Setting for Neurological Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Marco Tramontano et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

Sleep occupies one-third of human life and is essential for health and for emotional, physical, and cognitive well-being. Poor or insufficient sleep is associated with a wide range of dysfunctions that involve different body systems, such as the endocrine, metabolic, and immune systems, thus compromising the higher cortical functions, cognitive performance, mood, and post-physical activity recovery. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to explore the effectiveness of physical therapy exercises on sleep disorders in patients with neurological disorders. Our systematic review identified 10 articles that investigated the effects of physical therapy on sleep disorders in patients with neurological disorders, 6 of which were included in the meta-analysis. Results suggest that physical therapy exercises are a safe and useful strategy for managing sleep disorders in neurorehabilitation.

Keywords: neurological diseases; neurorehabilitation; physical therapy; sleep disorders.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cochrane risk of bias of the included studies.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of physical therapy vs. comparison therapy assessed with clinical scales. formula image low risk of bias, formula image high risk of bias.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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