What About the Role of Virtual Reality in Parkinson Disease’s Cognitive Rehabilitation? Preliminary Findings From a Randomized Clinical Trial

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 312-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Grazia Maggio ◽  
Maria Cristina De Cola ◽  
Desirèe Latella ◽  
Giuseppa Maresca ◽  
Chiara Finocchiaro ◽  
...  

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a virtual reality training with BTS Nirvana (BTS-N) system in the cognitive and behavioral recovery in patients with Parkinson disease (PD). The BTS-N is a semi-immersive therapy system used for motor and cognitive rehabilitation of patients with neurological diseases, by creating virtual scenarios with which the patient may interact. Methods: We enrolled 20 patients with PD undergoing neurorehabilitation. All the patients were randomized into 2 groups: experimental group performing semi-immersive virtual reality training with BTS-N and control group undergoing traditional cognitive training. Each participant was evaluated before and immediately after the end of the training. Each cognitive training consisted of 3 sessions a week, each lasting 60 minutes, for 8 weeks, for a total of 24 sessions in each group. Results: Experimental group showed a greater improvement in cognitive functioning, with regard to executive and visuospatial abilities, as compared with the control group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that rehabilitation through a new virtual reality instrument could be a valuable tool in improving cognitive and behavioral outcomes of patients with PD.

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 446-451
Author(s):  
Dilek Karaman ◽  
Funda Erol ◽  
Dilek Yılmaz ◽  
Yurdanur Dikmen

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of virtual reality application on experimental ischemic pain created with a blood pressure instrument in healthy volunteers. METHODS: The research sample consisted of 172 volunteer adult students who conformed to the inclusion criteria. These individuals were assigned into an experimental (n=86) and a control group (n=86) by a simple randomization method. All individuals in the experimental and control groups wereexperimentally subjected to pain for two minutes by applying 260 mmHg of pressure 3-4 cm above the antecubital region of the left arm with an aneroid adult-type blood pressure instrument. During the procedure, the volunteers in the experimental group watched virtual reality images, while those in the control group received no intervention. Immediately after the procedure, the pain levels of the individuals in both groups were assessed with a Visual Analog Scale (VAS). RESULTS: We found that the mean pain score of the individuals in the experimental group was 2.62±1.82, and that of individuals in the control group was 5.75±1.65. Results of the statistical analysis showed a statistically significant difference between the mean pain scores of the individuals in the experimental and control groups (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: This study found that the use of virtual reality was effective in reducing the level of pain in healthy individuals. This method used a smartphone with widespread availability and ease of transportation, which can be used by health professionals as a non-pharmacological method in the management of pain.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 814
Author(s):  
Na-Kyoung Hwang ◽  
Jong-Bae Choi ◽  
Dae-Kil Choi ◽  
Jae-Min Park ◽  
Chang-Wan Hong ◽  
...  

This study aimed to investigate the effects of semi-immersive virtual reality-based cognitive training (VRCT) combined with locomotor activity on cognitive function, balance, and gait ability in older adults. Eighteen community-dwelling older adults participated in this study. Subjects who met the selection criteria were assigned to an experimental group (n = 9) and a control group (n = 9). The experimental group received VRCT combined with locomotor activity for 30 min a day, three times a week, for 6 weeks. The control group received tabletop activity-based cognitive training for the same amount of time. Before and after the training, the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE), Trail Making Test (TMT; A and B), and Digit Span Test (DST; forward and backward) were used to evaluate cognitive function; and the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and 10-m Walking Test (10MWT) were used to evaluate the improvement in the balance and gait ability parameters. After the intervention, the experimental group showed a significantly greater improvement in the TMT-A (p = 0.045) and DST-backward (p = 0.012) scores compared with the control group. Regarding the gait ability variable, the experimental group showed a significant improvement in the 10MWT test (p = 0.001). This study confirmed that semi-immersive VRCT combined with locomotor activity is useful for improving cognitive function and gait ability in older adults. Therefore, VRCT combined with locomotor activity can be used as a simultaneous intervention for cognitive rehabilitation and functional capacity improvement in older adults.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehab Mohamed Abd El-Kafy ◽  
Mansour Abdullah Alshehri ◽  
Amir Abdel-Raouf El-Fiky ◽  
Mohamad Abdelhamid Guermazi

Background: Stroke is a common cause of motor disability. The recovery of upper limb after stroke is poor, with few stroke survivors regaining some functional use of the affected upper limb. This is further complicated by the fact that the prolonged rehabilitation is accompanied by multiple challenges in using and identifying meaningful and motivated treatment tasks that may be adapted and graded to facilitate the rehabilitation program. Virtual reality-based therapy is one of the most innovative approaches in rehabilitation technology and virtual reality systems can provide enhanced feedback to promote motor learning in individuals with neurological or musculoskeletal diseases.Purpose: This study investigated the effect of virtual reality-based therapy on improving upper limb functions in individuals with chronic stroke.Methods: Forty Saudi individuals with chronic stroke (6–24 months following stroke incidence) and degree of spasticity ranged between 1, 1 + and 2 according to Modified Ashworth Scale were included in this study. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups, experimental and control, with the experimental group undertaking a conventional 1-h functional training program, followed by another hour of virtual reality-based therapy using Armeo Spring equipment and the control group received 2 h of a conventional functional training program. The treatment program was conducted three times per week for three successive months. The change in the scores of Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT), WMFT-Time (time required to complete the test) and Hand Grip Strength (HGS) were recorded at baseline and after completion of the treatment. Parametric (paired and unpaired t-tests) non-parametric (Wilcoxon and Mann–Whitney tests) statistical tests were used to identify the differences within and between groups (experimental group and control group) and evaluation times (pre- and immediately post-treatment).Results: Both groups showed significant differences (all, P &lt; 0.05) in all measured variables after 3 months of the treatment. Individuals with stoke in the experimental group had a better improvement in ARAT (P &lt; 0.01), WMFT (P &lt; 0.01) and WMFT-Time (P &lt; 0.01) scores after completion of the treatment compared to the control group. No significant difference in HGS scores was detected between groups after completion of the treatment (P = 0.252).Conclusion: The use of combined treatment of virtual reality-based therapy and conventional functional training program is more effective for improving upper limb functions in individuals with chronic stroke than the use of the conventional program alone.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2183
Author(s):  
José Varela-Aldás ◽  
Jorge Buele ◽  
Pedro Ramos Lorente ◽  
Iván García-Magariño ◽  
Guillermo Palacios-Navarro

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed people’s lives and the way in which certain services are provided. Such changes are not uncommon in healthcare services and they will have to adapt to the new situation by increasing the number of services remotely offered. Limited mobility has resulted in interruption of treatments that traditionally have been administered through face-to-face modalities, especially those related to cognitive impairments. In this telerehabilitation approach, both the patient and the specialist physician enter a virtual reality (VR) environment where they can interact in real time through avatars. A spaced retrieval (SR) task is implemented in the system to analyze cognitive performance. An experimental group (n = 20) performed the SR task in telerehabilitation mode, whereas a control group (n = 20) performed the SR task through a traditional face-to-face mode. The obtained results showed that it is possible to carry out cognitive rehabilitation processes through a telerehabilitation modality in conjunction with VR. The cost-effectiveness of the system will also contribute to making healthcare systems more efficient, overcoming both geographical and temporal limitations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (12) ◽  
pp. 874-879
Author(s):  
Minsuk Chae ◽  
Juyong Kang ◽  
Eunsub Lee

Background and Objectives Virtual reality (VR) users have prevalently experienced motion sickness called cybersickness. Recently, it has been suggested that stimulating the mastoid by vibration relieves cybersickness. This study aimed to verify this proposition.Subjects and Method Fifty-four young male adults (aged 18 to 27 years) without any experience of severe motion sickness or cybersickness participated in this study. Participants were divided in half into two groups, the experimental group and control group. The experimental group used VR with mastoid vibration, and the control group experienced VR without mastoid vibration. Participants responded to the simulator sickness questionnaire (SSQ) to quantify cybersickness.Results The total severity scores of cybersickness in the experimental group ranged from 0 to 183.3 with the mean value of 46.7±49.0. The total severity scores of cybersickness in the control group ranged from 0 to 194.9 with the mean value of 44.9±45.1. There were no significant differences between the two groups.Conclusion There was no improvement of cybersickness in the VR participants when the mastoid was stimulated by vibration. However, cybersickness might be relieved with changes in the VR condition or vibration settings.


Author(s):  
Eka Rejeki Maha ◽  
Berlin Sibarani

This study was aimed at finding out The Effect of Applying POSSE (Predict-Organize-Search-Summarize-Evaluate) Strategy on the Students’ Reading Comprehension. This study used the experimental design. The population of this study was the students of SMA Negeri 2 Medan. There were sixty students taken as the sample of the research. This study was conducted with two randomized groups namely experimental and control group. The experimental group was taught by applying POSSE strategy while control group was taught without applying POSSE strategy. The instrument of collecting the data was multiple choice test which consists of 40 items. To obtain the reliability of the test, the researcher used Kuder-Richardson (KR-21). The calculation shows the reliability was 0.81(high). The data were analyzed by using t-test. The calculation shows that t-observed (4.76) is higher than t-table (2.00) at the level of significance (α) 0.05 with the degree of freedom (df) 58. Therefore, the null hypothesis (Ho) is rejected and alternative hypothesis (Ha) is accepted. It means that there was a significant effect of applying POSSE strategy on the students’ reading comprehension. Keywords: POSSE Strategy, Reading Comprehension.


Author(s):  
Haryato Siregar ◽  
Elia Masa Ginting

This study was aimed at finding out the effect of applying Learning Together Method on the students’ reading comprehension. This study used the experimental design. The population of this study was the students of SMP Negeri 1 Muara. There were sixty students of eighth class as the sample of the research. This study was conducted with two randomized groups namely experimental and control group. The experimental group was taught by applying Learning Together Method while control group was taught without applying Learning Together Method. The instrument of collecting the data was multiple choice test which consists of 20 items. To obtain the reliability of the test, the researcher used Kuder-Richardson (KR-21) formula. The calculation shows the reliability was 0.82(high). The data were analyzed by using t-test. The calculation shows that t-observed (4.9) is higher than t-table (2.00) at the level of significance (α) 0.05 with the degree of freedom (df) 58. Therefore, the null hypothesis (Ho) is rejected and alternative hypothesis (Ha) is accepted. It means that teaching reading comprehension by applying Learning Together Method significantly affect reading comprehension. Keywords: Learning Together Method, Reading Comprehension


Author(s):  
Hasanul Arifin Zul And Masitowarni Siregar

This thesis is focused on the investigation of the effect of applying animal cartoon pictures on students’ achievement in writing narrative text. This study aims to find whether applying animal cartoon pictures significantly affect the students’ writing achievement or not. The data in this study were obtained by administering a written test. The population was the 2015/2016 first year (grade XI) of SMA Swasta Nusantara Lubuk Pakam and 66 students were taken as the sample by using random sampling. The sample was divided into two groups, experimental and control groups. The experimental group was taught by applying animal cartoon pictures while the control group without animal cartoon pictures (x = lecturing). The data were taken the scores from the pre-test and post-test to both experimental and control groups. These data were analyzed by using t-test. The result of computing the t-test obviously showed that t-observed is higher than t-table (5.21 >1,67) with the degree of freedom 64 (df =N-2) at the level significance 0,05 one tail test. It showed that the application of animal cartoon pictures significantly affected the students of SMA Swasta Nusantara Lubuk Pakam achievement in writing narrative text.


Author(s):  
Sri Agus Murniasih And I Wayan Dirgeyasa

This study was conducted to know the effect of applying Peer Review Strategy on the students’ achievement in writing descriptive paragraph. It was conducted by using experimental research method. This research design was conducted pre-test, post test in experimental and control group. The population of this research was the eight (VIII) grade students of SMP IT IQRA’ Medan. The sample of this research was taken by lottery technique. They were in class VIII-1 by experimental group and the class VIII-2 by control group. The experimental group was taught by using Peer Review Strategy while the control group was given no treatment. The instrument used to collect the data was writing essay test. The data were analyzed by using t-test formula. The result showed that the value of t-observed was higher than the value of t-table. (3,55 > 2,05 (a = 0.05)) with the degree of freedom (df) = 28. It means that there was a significant effect of applying Peer Review Strategy on the students’ achievement in writing descriptive paragraph. So, the alternative hypothesis (Ha) was accepted.


Author(s):  
Meryanti Napitupulu And Anni Holila Pulungan

This study was conducted as an attempt to discover the effect of applying Demonstration Method on students’ achievement in speaking skill. It was an experimental research. The subject was students of Grade XII, Vocational High School (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan: SMK), which consisted of 79 students. The research was divided into two groups: experimental and control groups. The instrument used to collect the data was speaking test. To obtain the reliability of the test, the writer applied Kuder Richardson 21 formula. The result of the reliability was 0.7, and it was found that the test was reliable. The data were analyzed by using t-test formula. The analysis showed that the scores of the students in the experimental group were significantly higher than the scores of the students in the control group at the level of significant m = 0.05 with the degree of freedom (df) 77, t-observed value 8.9 > t-table value 1.99. The findings indicate that using Demonstration Method significantly affected the students’ achievement in speaking skill. So, English teachers are suggested to use Demonstration Method in order to improve students’ achievement in speaking skill.


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