Use of Virtual Reality Games for the Treatment of Balance and Reducing the Occurrence of Falls in Patients After Stroke

Therapeutic Effect of Virtual Reality in Patients After Stroke

The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effect of virtual reality associated with conventional physiotherapy on balance during gait and the occurrence of falls in patients after stroke.

Randomized clinical trial conducted with patients of both sexes with hemiparesis after stroke of 18 to 65 years. They excluded those who had less than six months of injury, with sensory or perceptual deficit. Patients included were randomized into two groups, a treatment group, which conducted rehabilitation with virtual reality associated with conventional physical therapy and the control group that performed only conventional physiotherapy. Randomization was done by a computer program in blocks, by a third person, respecting the allocation concealment. After selection and randomization, patients were evaluated at baseline, when they were collected demographic and clinical data, investigated the occurrence of falls in the three months prior to evaluation and rated the balance in motion using the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI). Patients were followed for 20 physiotherapy sessions, visits twice a week for an hour each. The assessment of the balance and the investigation of the occurrence of falls were repeated at the end of treatment, which occurred on average three months after the start of the intervention, by the same examiner, who remained blind to the group that the patient belonged.

Inclusion Criteria:

• patients of both sexes with hemiparesis after stroke of 18 to 65 years.

Exclusion Criteria:

• less than 6 months of injury with sensory or perceptual deficit.