The Use of Portable Devices for the Instrumental Assessment of Balance in Patients with Chronic Stroke: A Systematic Review

Background: Improving balance remains a challenge in stroke rehabilitation. The technological development has allowed the design of more accessible and user-friendly systems for assessing postural control. Objectives: The aim of this review was to analyze portable devices for the instrumental assessment of balance in patients with chronic stroke. Methods: PRISMA guidelines were used to carry out the systematic review. The literature search was restricted to articles written in English or Spanish published from 2013 to December 2022 in Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus, PEDro, and CINAHL. Of the 309 search results, 229 unique references were reviewed after duplicates were removed. The PEDro scale was applied to evaluate the methodological quality of the included papers, and the degree of evidence and level of recommendation were determined through the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. Results: A total of seven articles reporting on five different balance testing devices were included in this systematic review; they regarded BIORescue, a smartphone application, and the Biodex-BioSway Balance System for the evaluation of standing balance, and SwayStar Balance and Xsens ForceShoes™ for the evaluation of dynamic balance during walking. Conclusions: The use of portable devices that assess balance in adult patients with chronic stroke is scarce.