Research suggests that playing rehabilitation video games alongside physical therapy is more effective than traditional physical therapy alone for managing Parkinson's symptoms.
Video game-based therapy is also a better addition to traditional physical therapy than motor imagery therapy, where patients visualize the steps required for complex movements. ”Effects of virtual reality, motor imagery, and daily physical therapy in patients with Parkinson's disease: A randomized controlled trial.” was published. BMC Gerontology.
Physical therapy is an important part of care for many people with Parkinson's disease and includes exercises and daily activities designed to maximize mobility and body function.
Some studies are looking at using video games and virtual reality exercise in conjunction with traditional physical therapy to help patients become more involved in exercise. His popular Nintendo Wii Fit system, in which players operate the game by standing on a board that tracks changes in weight as they move.
Motor imagery, in which patients visualize the steps required for a movement (without actually moving), has also been studied as an addition to traditional physical therapy to strengthen the neural signals that control movement. Here, Pakistani scientists enrolled 60 Parkinson's patients in a small clinical trial to test whether adding video games and motor imagery to physical therapy could improve Parkinson's disease treatment outcomes.
Improving functionality with video games
Participants were randomly divided into three groups. One group received traditional physical therapy only, the second group received traditional physical therapy accompanied by rehabilitation games on his Wii, and the third group received physical therapy along with motor imagery therapy.
“No study has yet looked at these three groups in one study to get a candid picture of which treatments are actually effective or produce lasting effects,” says Science. said the people.
The study lasted 16 weeks, or about four months, during which all participants underwent at least 33 40-minute sessions and were evaluated at the beginning and end of the study, as well as several times during the study.
Motor symptom severity was measured using part 3 of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). The patient who received the video game-based treatment saw his average score decrease from his 33.95 points to 18.15 points, indicating that his motor symptoms were less severe.
Motor symptom severity scores also decreased in patients who received motor imagery or physical therapy alone, but to a lesser extent. Scores decreased from 32.7 to 19.9 in the motor imagery group and from 33.05 to 24.85 in the PT only group.
A similar trend was observed for scores on Part 2 of the UPDRS, which measures the ability to perform daily activities independently. Measures of balance also generally showed greater improvement with the video game intervention.
“In the current research, [Wii video game] group showed greater improvements in functional outcomes than the motor imagery group and routine [physical therapy] alone,” the scientists said, noting that further research is needed to verify the results. The researchers said the findings support the incorporation of rehabilitation video games into daily physical therapy practice.
