Using Xbox kinect motion capture technology to improve clinical rehabilitation outcomes for balance and cardiovascular health in an individual with chronic TBI.

The study used a single-system design with one participant, so it cannot show how many other people with chronic severe TBI would respond. The participant was a 37-year-old male veteran who did not require an assistive device for walking, so the findings may not apply to older, female, non-veteran, or more impaired people. He continued recreation and leisure activities 1 to 3 times per week during the study, so the contribution of the Kinect games alone cannot be separated from those ongoing activities. He took lisinopril and metoprolol and was an active smoker, which may have affected heart-rate responses. Assessment timing was unequal across phases because of scheduling problems, although the study met the accepted standard of 5 to 7 assessments per phase. The study did not measure VO2 max or heart-rate variability, so cardiovascular adaptation is inferred from heart-rate patterns rather than directly shown. The authors state that commercial games may limit therapist control of difficulty and intensity because progression is automated by the game.

Funding was provided by the Veteran Affairs Office of Academic Affiliations and Office of Research and Development.

Do not conclude that Xbox Kinect games improve balance or cardiovascular fitness in chronic severe TBI. This was a one-participant pilot, and the participant also maintained recreation therapy and unchanged blood-pressure medications, so the games' effect cannot be separated from supervision or ongoing activities.