Effect of the Wii Sports Resort on the improvement in attention, processing speed and working memory in moderate stroke.
Iratxe Unibaso-Markaida, Ioseba Iraurgi, Nuria Ortiz-Marqués and 2 others
PMID 30819204WHAT IT FOUND
Moderate stroke patients who also used Wii for 8 weeks did not improve attention, speed or working memory more than those on usual stroke rehabilitation.
Usual rehabilitation included walking, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and neuropsychology.
Key findings
01The Trail Making Test showed significant improvement within groups (p ≤ .001) but no significant intergroup or interaction effect.
02Scaled Digit Span scores showed significant intergroup effects favouring the control group (DST Backward p < .001; Total DST p = .004).
03The intervention group received standard protocol plus Wii, and the control group received standard protocol and a waiting list, so the contribution of the Wii alone cannot be separated.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Only 30 patients were analysed, and 40 of 182 patients were selected, but 10 did not take part, so the study is small and the authors say it had weak statistical power. The doctors divided participants into groups, and the authors describe allocation bias as a major limitation because the control group was older (71.55 vs 58.43 years) and had more participants with primary education (60%). At baseline, the groups already differed on scaled Digit Span scores, with the control group better on DST Backward (p < .001) and Total DST (p = .004). The direct Trail Making Test times and the age and education adjusted scaled scores pointed in opposite directions, because the control group was older and had different education levels. The control group received the same standard protocol and a waiting list, while the intervention group also had Wii sessions 3 days a week for up to 30 minutes, so the contribution of the added game time cannot be separated.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the faster direct Trail Making Test times in the Wii group as proof that it improves cognition more than usual therapy. The between-group and interaction tests were not significant, and scaled Digit Span scores favoured the control group.