Virtual reality in rehabilitation for Parkinson disease: a systematic review of its effectiveness for balance and gait performance
Keywords:
Balance, gait, parkinson disease, rehabilitation, virtual realityAbstract
Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the quality of life and involving millions of people in the world. Difficulty in controling balance and reduced gait function are common impairments in PD patients. Recent studies showed the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) in treating people with neurological problems. This review aims to systematically determine the effects of VR training on balance and gait performance among PD patients. The term used was "Virtual Real*" OR "virtual game" OR "exergames" AND "Parkinson Disease" through five electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, Ebsco, Web of Science and Google Scholar from January 2015 until January 2020. Then, followed by the PRISMA guideline and PEDro Scale, was used to grade the quality of studies. Ten RCT studies satisfied the eligibility criteria and were included in this review. The PEDro scale was range 6/10–8/10. The duration for intervention is between 15 to 60 minutes, and the frequency of the intervention is two to five times a week. The results from this study have shown the advantages of VR intervention in improving balance and gait function, hence recommended as an intervention for the PD patients.