Virtual Reality's Impact on Upper Limb Function in Post-stroke Patients

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

virtual reality (VR) head mounted display: This group of subjects received immersive and interactive VR training, which combined rich immersive VR scenes with specific interactive tasks, including two VR scenes. Task selection was based on the subjects' upper limb functional performance, and experienced therapists provided guidance and monitoring, and adjusted the tasks when necessary.

Study summary

Stroke rank second among the top causes of death, affecting millions of people in the worldwide. Approximately 70-80% survivors of stroke could experience various levels of upper limb motor impairments, which seriously affects the activities of daily life and cause serious physical and mental burden to patients and their families. As bottleneck effect in traditional rehabilitation techniques become apparent, a number of emerging technologies are being used in rehabilitation treatment in an attempt to break down this barrier.Studies have shown that virtual reality (VR) training can effectively promote the remodeling of the central nervous system and has become an important research direction for motor function rehabilitation.However, most current studies still focus on evaluating the overall intervention effect of VR, with little examination of its intrinsic properties and a lack of exploration of the sense of ownership (SOO) and agency (SOA).

Hence, this study conducted different VR interventions on stroke patients to evaluate the effects of the intrinsic properties of VR and the body illusion it produces on the rehabilitation of their upper limb motor function.

This study is a single-blind randomized controlled trial. A total of 120 participants will be enrolled and divided into a control group, an interactive VR group, and an immersive and interactive VR group. All groups will be tested on the virtual hand illusion before the intervention. The intervention will last for a fortnight, four times a week for one hour each time. Assessment will be conducted before the intervention, at the end of the intervention, and at week 6 for follow-up. The primary outcome measure is the "Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the Upper Extremity (FMA-UE)". The secondary outcome measures are "SOO questionnaire", "proprioceptive drift scale", "action research arm test (ARAT)", "NIH stroke scale (NIHSS)", "mini mental state examination (MMSE)", "electromyography (EMG)", "electroencephalography (EEG)" and "functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)".

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Fugl-Meyer Assessment Upper Extremity Scale (FAM-UE) — There were 3 time points for evaluation: before intervention, on the day of intervention end, 4 weeks after intervention end
  The Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the Upper Extremity (FMA-UE) covers all aspects of upper limb function, such as movement, coordination, and reflex actions of the shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist, and hand, with a total of 33 assessment items. Patients were assessed according to a specific scale with a total score of 66, with higher scores indicating better recovery of upper limb function.

Trial sites (1)

More Qilu Hospital of Shandong University trials in China

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