Efficacy of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation on spasticity in patients with stroke: a systematic review

purpose: this review was conducted to investigate the effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) on spasticity post-stroke.materials and methods: PubMed, SCOPUS, PEDro, CINAHL, MEDLINE, REHABDATA, and Web of Science databases were searched until may 2020. the methodological quality was evaluated using the physiotherapy evidence database (PEDro) scale. many inclusion and exclusion criteria of the studies were determined.Results: Six studies were included in this systematic review. three were pilot studies, clinical controlled trials (n = 2), and randomized controlled trials (n = 1). the scores on the PEDro scale ranged from two to five, with a median score of three. the findings of this study showed heterogeneous evidence on the benefits of the PNF intervention on spasticity post-stroke.Conclusion: The evidence for the effect of the PNF on spasticity in patients with stroke was limited. further strong clinical trials with long-term follow-up are needed.