Keywords
Background:This controlled experimental study aimed to investigate the effect of immersive virtual reality-based movement therapy (IVRMT) on upper extremity functions (UEF)Q4
activities of daily living (ADL)Q4
and cognitive functions (CF) in chronic stroke patients.
Methods:Patients who met the inclusion criteriaQ4
were randomly assigned to the study (IVR) or control groups.Both of the groups received 60 minutes/day of conventional rehabilitation program and occupational therapy and the IVR group received 30 minutes/day of additional IVR-MT for six weeks.UEF was evaluated by the Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHFT)Q4
and the Box and Block Test (BBT)Q4
ADL was evaluated by the Barthel Index (BI)Q4
and 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36)Q4
and CF was evaluated with the Mini Mental Test (MMT).
Results:There were no differences between the IVR (n=15)Q4
and control (n=10) groups for demographic and clinical characteristics or baseline results of JTHFTQ4
and MMT.At six weeks post-treatment there were significant improvements in the IVR group in scores for moving large light cans (Pvalue=0.001) and moving large heavy cans (Pvalue=0.003) in the JTHFTQ4
in BBT scores (Pvalue=0.004)Q4
in MMT (Pvalue=0.033) and for physical functioning (Pvalue=0.008) in the SF-36.In additionQ4
the change in score in the IVR group for moving large light cans (Pvalue=0.008) and moving large heavy cans (Pvalue=0.002) at week 6 was significantly larger than in the control group.
Conclusions:These results suggest that additional IVR-MTQ4