OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis using the International Classification of Functioning to determine the summary effect of electrical stimulation on impairment and activity limitations relevant to gait problems of children with cerebral palsy. METHODS: We identified 40 cerebral palsy and electrical stimulation studies, and 17 gait studies qualified for inclusion. Applying enablement classification methods to walking abnormalities created two subgroups: impairment (N = 14) and activity limitations (N = 15). Overall, 238 participants experienced electrical stimulation treatments and 224 served as a no stimulation control group. Calculations followed conventional data extraction and meta-analysis techniques: (a) individual standardized mean differences, (b) summary effect size, (c) I2 heterogeneity test, (d) fail-safe N analysis and (e) moderator variable analyses. RESULTS: Common outcome measures associated with impairment (n = 3) and activity limitations (n = 6) were submitted to separate random effects models meta-analyses, and revealed significant cumulative effect sizes: (a) impairment = 0.616 (SE = 0.10) and (b) activity limitations = 0.635 (SE = 0.14). I2 indicated low and medium amounts of dispersion, whereas fail-safe analyses revealed high N-values for both disablement categories. Moderator variable analyses further confirmed the positive treatment effects from both functional and neuromuscular stimulation. CONCLUSIONS: The present systematic review and meta-analyses determined medium effect sizes for electrical stimulation on walking impairment and activity limitations of children with cerebral palsy.

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