Effects of virtual reality associated with serious games for upper limb rehabilitation inpatients with multiple sclerosis: randomized controlled trial.
Alicia Cuesta-Gómez, Patricia Sánchez-Herrera-Baeza, Edwin Daniel Oña-Simbaña and 5 others
PMID 32660604WHAT IT FOUND
Adding Leap Motion virtual games to usual upper-limb therapy improved dexterity and coordination on the more affected side in MS, but not grip strength, fatigue, or quality of life compared with control.
Key findings
01The group receiving conventional upper-limb therapy plus Leap Motion games had better Purdue Pegboard Test and Box and Blocks Test scores on the more affected side than the conventional therapy group.
02The experimental group did not improve on the Fatigue Severity Scale or Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale physical or psychological scores.
03Compliance was excellent and satisfaction was high in both groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study analysed 30 patients, so it is small. Participants were recruited by consecutive non-probabilistic sampling from MS associations, which may introduce selection bias. Only the assessors were blinded to treatment. The control group practised movements imitating the serious games, so the added effect of virtual reality itself may be hard to separate from conventional therapy. Follow-up intergroup differences on the more affected side should be interpreted cautiously because the groups started from different clinical performance. Results apply to people with MS with EDSS scores of 3.5 to 7.5, stable medication, no cognitive decline, and limited upper-limb tone. The paper does not report follow-up beyond 1 month.
Declared interests
The supplied text names Agencia Estatal de Investigación as the funder and does not report author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the added Leap Motion games as the sole cause of improvement. Both groups received conventional upper-limb therapy, and the experimental group received 45 minutes of that plus 15 minutes of games, while the control group also practised movements imitating the games.