• Virtual reality rehabilitation significantly improves upper limb motor function, coordination, hand dexterity, and daily living activities in stroke patients compared to conventional therapy alone.
• Smart glove intervention is most effective for improving upper limb motor function, while Armeo Spring is best for coordination, Kinect for hand dexterity, and VREX for daily living activities.
• Subgroup analysis indicates that patients aged 50-59 years, with disease duration within 3 months, and intervention duration ≥4 weeks benefit most from virtual reality training.
• The study included 12 randomized controlled trials with 571 patients, providing robust evidence for the efficacy of virtual reality in stroke rehabilitation.