2026-04-14T04:52:20Zhttps://recercat.cat/oai/requestoai:recercat.cat:20.500.12328/50952025-11-04T17:36:03Zcom_2072_67741col_2072_484352
Motor and Sensory Benefits of Mirror Therapy in Children and Adolescents with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Ortega I Martínez, Anna
Palomo Carrión, Rocio
Carrasco-Uribarren, Andoni
Amor-Barbosa, Marta
Domènech-Garcia, Georgina
Bagur-Calafat, Caritat
unilateral cerebral palsy
mirror therapy
upper limb impairments
hand function
motor impairment
somatosensory impaiment
systematic review
meta-analysis
parálisis cerebral unilateral
terapia del espejo
discapacidad de las extremidades superiores
función de la mano
discapacidad motora
discapacidad somatosensorial
revisión sistemática
metaanálisis
paràlisi cerebral unilateral
teràpia especular
discapacitat de les extremitats superiors
Función de la mano
deteriorament motor
discapacitat somatosensorial
revisió sistemàtica
metaanàlisi
Background: Mirror therapy (MT) creates a cerebral illusion of a normal movement in
a paretic limb. Although mirror therapy has been studied as a suitable intervention for
children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy (UCP), a comprehensive understanding of its full
range of benefits is still lacking. Thus, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis
was to determine all motor and sensory effects of MT in children and adolescents with
UCP. Methods: Clinical trials focused on the application of MT in the upper limb (UL) of
children and adolescents with UCP were included. A search was performed in PubMed,
Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and LILACS databases. Eleven studies were included in
this systematic review. The PEDro scale and the MINORS scale were applied to evaluate the
methodological quality of randomized and non-randomized controlled trials, respectively.
The Risk of Bias tool was also employed to evaluate the potential bias. In addition, the
TIDieR checklist was used to assess the quality of intervention reporting. A random-effects
model was used for the meta-analysis. Results: The studies included children with UCP
from three to eighteen years, classified in Manual Ability Classification System levels I–IV.
Motor effects of MT were found in nine studies. Also, two studies reported sensory effects
on registration, perception, and proprioception abilities. Qualitative and quantitative
analysis showed that MT improved manual dexterity and tactile registration in children
and adolescents with UCP. Conclusions: MT is a therapy capable of inducing motor and
sensory improvements in the affected UL of children with UCP.
2025-06-27
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Ortega-Martíez, Anna; Palomo-Carrión, Rocío; Carrasco-Uribarren, Andoni [et al.]. Motor and Sensory Benefits of Mirror Therapy in Children and Adolescents with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Healthcare 2025, 13(13), 1538. Disponible en <https://www.mdpi.com/3378462>. Fecha de acceso: 24 oct. 2025. DOI: 10.3390/ healthcare13131538.
2078-2489
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12328/5095
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13131538
eng
Healthcare
13;13
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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