Background The increasing number of children with cerebral palsy (CP) has a serious impact on individuals, families, and society. As a new technology, virtual reality (VR) has been used in the rehabilitation of children with CP. Objective This study aimed to systematically evaluate the effect of VR training on balance, gross motor function, and daily living ability in children with CP. Methods PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were searched by computer, with the search period being from the establishment of each database to December 25, 2021, to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effects of VR training on balance, gross motor function, and daily living ability in children with CP. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool was used to conduct quality assessment on the included literature, and RevMan software (version 5.3) was used to analyze data. Results A total of 16 articles were included, involving 513 children with CP. VR training can improve the balance function (Pediatric Balance Scale: mean difference 2.06, 95% CI 1.15-2.97; P<.001; Berg Balance Scale: mean difference 3.66, 95% CI 0.29-7.02; P=.03) and gross motor function (standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.60, 95% CI 0.34-0.87; P<.001) of children with CP. However, there is still certain disagreement on the impact on daily living ability (SMD 0.37, 95% CI –0.04 to 0.78; P=.08); after removing the source literature with heterogeneity, VR training can improve the daily living ability of children with CP (SMD 0.55, 95% CI 0.30-0.81; P<.001). Conclusions VR training can significantly improve the balance function and gross motor function of children with CP, but the effect on the daily living ability of children with CP remains controversial.
Review question / Objective: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a non-progressive, persistent syndrome occurring in the brain of the fetus or infant[1]. The prevalence of CP is 0.2% worldwide, and the prevalence can increase to 20-30 times in preterm or low birth weight newborns. There are about 6 million children with CP in China, and the number is increasing at a rate of 45,000 per year. Virtual reality (VR) refers to a virtual environment that is generated by a computer and can be interacted with.VR can mobilize the visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic organs of CP, so that they can actively participate in the rehabilitation exercise. Information sources: Two researchers searched 5 databases, including Pubmed (N=82), Embase (N=191), The Cochrane Library (N=147), Web of Science (N=359) and CNKI (N=11).
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