A Novel Virtual Reality Training Strategy for Poststroke Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Stroke patients suffer impairments including sensory, motor, visual, and cognitive areas, as well as gait and balance manifestations making activities of daily living difficult. In such conditions, virtual reality training can be a potential rehabilitation tool in comparison to conventional physical therapy to cater to the burden of this disability; hence, this randomized clinical trial compared the effects of virtual reality training and conventional physical therapy on balance and lower extremity function in stroke patients. The sample of 68 poststroke participants from Kanaan Physical Therapy and Spine Clinic, Lahore, Pakistan, were divided into N = 34 cases each using the lottery method with one group given virtual reality training and the other received conventional physical therapy. Each group received 60 minutes intervention, 3 days per week for 6 weeks. The Berg balance scale and the Fugl-Meyer assessment-lower extremity scale were employed for data collection preintervention, immediate postintervention, and 6 weeks postintervention. The statistically significant differences between virtual reality and conventional physical therapy groups for the Berg Balance score ( p < 0.001 ), Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA)-lower extremity domains of FMA-motor function ( p < 0.001 ), FMA-joint pain, and joint range ( p < 0.001 ); however, there is no significant difference p = 0.202 for time vs. group interaction and significant ( p < 0.001 ) for the time main effect for FMA sensation. Hence, virtual reality training is more effective to restore balance and lower extremity function compared to conventional physical therapy in stroke patients. The results of the study have significant implications for the clinicians with better case management enhancing quality of life of patients along with the dearth of local literature, thus providing base for future research from a developing country’s perspective.

Comparison of Different Rehabilitation Techniques of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in the Treatment of Motor Dysfunction After Stroke Based on Frequency Method

“…A total of 4153 relevant studies were obtained in the preliminary search, including 385 from CNKI, 770 from Wanfang, 493 from PubMed, 1081 from EMBASE, and 1424 from the Cochrane Library. After exclusion of duplicate studies and strictly adherence to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 74 randomized controlled trials 8–81 were included. Except for a three-arm experiment, 52 all double-arm experiments with a total of 5128 patients.…”

Virtual Reality Training Using Nintendo Wii Games for Patients With Stroke: Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Written informed consent was obtained from each participant prior to data collection. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups by lottery method: VR (n=37) and routine physical therapy (n=37) groups [ 16 ].…”

“…Stroke is seen to be more prevalent in countries like Pakistan, as the people are more inclined toward using local drugs like naswar, pipe smoking, and beetle leaf chewing (paan). Thus, there is higher incidence of stroke in middle-aged populations (<45 years) [ 14 - 16 ]. The study aimed for a younger population with stroke and found cost-effective treatment protocols at the same time.…”

Realidad virtual y su utilidad como tratamiento fisioterapéutico para el accidente cerebrovascular: revisión sistemática

“…Se obtuvieron 17 artículos para incluir en la revisión bibliográfica. Todos los artículos incluidos en la revisión fueron de tipo ensayo clínico, ensayo controlado aleatorio (Adomavičienė et al, 2019;Anwar et al, 2021;Chen et al, 2022;Cho & Lee, 2019;Choi et al, 2019;Faria et al, 2020;Huang et al, 2022;Long et al, 2020;Maier et al, 2020;Oh et al, 2019;Park et al, 2021;Rodríguez-Hernández et al, 2021Sana et al, 2023;Schuster-Amft et al, 2018;Yang et al, 2022;Yao et al, 2020).…”

“…En 7 (Anwar et al, 2021;Choi et al, 2019;Faria et al, 2020;Huang et al, 2022;Long et al, 2020;Maier et al, 2020;Yang et al, 2022) estudios las intervenciones fueron a pacientes con ACV crónico, 7 (Chen et al, 2022;Oh et al, 2019;Rodríguez-Hernández et al, 2021Sana et al, 2023;Yao et al, 2020) estudios intervinieron en pacientes con ACV subagudo y en 3 estudios (Adomavičienė et al, 2019;Cho & Lee, 2019;Park et al, 2021;Schuster-Amft et al, 2018) la intervinieron a pacientes con ACV agudo.…”