Role of Virtual Reality in Balance Training in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury: A Prospective Comparative Pre-Post Study

• Main Authors: Madhusree Sengupta, Anupam Gupta, Meeka Khanna, U. K. Rashmi Krishnan, Dhritiman Chakrabarti
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korean Spine Society 2020-02-01
• Series: Asian Spine Journal
• Subjects: spinal cord injuries; virtual reality; balance rehabilitation
• Online Access: http://asianspinejournal.org/upload/pdf/asj-2019-0013.pdf

Study Design Prospective comparative pre–post study. Purpose To evaluate the effects of game-based virtual reality (VR) training program for trunk postural control and balance in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to assess the results according to the motor completeness (severity) of lesions using the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS). Overview of Literature Training with VR based gaming has a role to play in improving balance in patients with SCI. Methods Patients with SCI (traumatic and non-traumatic) for <6 months were included in this hospital-based study. Participants were divided into two groups: experimental group (EG) consisting 21 patients, and control group (CG) consisting 12. Both groups underwent the conventional rehabilitation program. An additional training with semi-immersive VR therapy was conducted 5 days a week for 3 weeks in the EG with the focus on balance rehabilitation using the “Rhetoric.” The outcome measures were the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), balance section of the Tinetti Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA-B), and Functional Reach Score (FRS). Results Both groups consisted of young participants (mean age, 28 and 30.5 years, respectively) and predominantly men (>80%). One-third of them had tetraplegia and two-third had paraplegia. Between-group analyses showed no statistically significant differences in the main effects between groups (p-value: BBS, 0.396; POMA-B, 0.238; FRS, 0.294), suggesting that the EG group did not show significant improvement in the trunk and posture at the end of training sessions than the CG group. Similarly, no significant difference was observed according to the severity (completeness) of SCI in the between-group analyses using the AIS (A/B vs. C/D). Conclusions VR is an adjunctive therapy for balance rehabilitation in patients with SCI.