EFFECTIVENESS OF VIRTUAL REALITY IN RECOVERY OF MOTOR FUNCTION IN POST-STROKE HEMIPARESIS: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Virtual Reality(VR) is a novel treatment approach for stroke rehabilitation as it enables individuals to reproduce standard controlled movements to accomplish functional task. In contrast to conventional rehabilitation that is monotonous, long-term and challenging, VR increases patient interest in rehabilitation thereby reduces the boredom and adaptation therefore enhances the visuo-spatial feedback. It has been observed that approximately 65% of the stroke survivors suffer hemiparesis that predominantly leads difficulty in performing daily living activities. Therefore, this study aims to assess the sensorimotor and functional performance in post-stroke hemiparetic patients using VR based gaming system. A total of 81 participants who had first-ever ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke with onset of >6 months, enrolled in post-acute rehabilitation program at Tertiary Care Hospital were included. The VR gaming software named Wonder Tree (WT) © was used for the intervention. All participants were required to play two different games i.e. bucket ball and bubble pop for 15-20 minutes, 3 days/week for the duration of 8th weeks. Participants were assessed on baseline and post-intervention on Fugyl-Meyer Assessment for Upper Extremity (FMA-UE) and Wolf Motor Function Test (W.MFT) to assess sensorimotor function and functional skills. Participants showed significant improvement in sensorimotor function and functional abilities (p<0.05) after 8th weeks of intervention. It was concluded that VR gaming is effective in improving motor recovery in post-stroke hemiparesis. Besides, future clinical trials are needed to be conduct to establish VR gaming system as an alternative to conventional stroke rehabilitation.