The Role of Virtual Reality in Postural Rehabilitation for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Scoping Review
Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide, characterized by bradykinesia, rigidity, tremor, and postural instability. These symptoms often lead to significant postural deformities and an increased risk of falls, severely impacting the quality of life. Conventi...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | Brain Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/1/23 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832588894553505792 |
|---|---|
| author | Francesco Agostini Marco Conti Giovanni Morone Giovanni Iudicelli Andrea Fisicaro Alessio Savina Massimiliano Mangone Marco Paoloni |
| author_facet | Francesco Agostini Marco Conti Giovanni Morone Giovanni Iudicelli Andrea Fisicaro Alessio Savina Massimiliano Mangone Marco Paoloni |
| author_sort | Francesco Agostini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide, characterized by bradykinesia, rigidity, tremor, and postural instability. These symptoms often lead to significant postural deformities and an increased risk of falls, severely impacting the quality of life. Conventional rehabilitation methods have shown benefits, but recent advancements suggest that virtual reality (VR) could offer a promising alternative. This scoping review aims to analyze the current literature to evaluate the effectiveness of VR in the postural rehabilitation of patients with PD. A scientific literature search was performed using the following databases: PubMed, PEDro, Cochrane, and Google Scholar, focusing on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in English. Our selection criteria included studies that compared VR-based rehabilitation to traditional methods regarding posture-related outcomes. We identified and analyzed nine RCTs that met our inclusion criteria. The results consistently demonstrated that VR-based rehabilitation leads to greater improvements in balance and gait compared to conventional therapy. Key findings include significant enhancements in balance confidence and postural control and a reduction in fall rates. The superior efficacy of VR-based rehabilitation can be attributed to its engaging and immersive nature, which enhances patient motivation and adherence to therapy. VR allows for precise, repeatable training scenarios tailored to individual patient needs, providing a safe environment to practice and improve motor skills. In conclusion, VR-based rehabilitation represents an innovative approach with substantial potential to improve the quality of life for PD patients. However, limitations such as small sample sizes and short intervention durations in existing studies highlight the need for larger multicenter trials with longer follow-up periods to confirm these findings. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-33f6b85c052643eea797c5d1d4c5442b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-33f6b85c052643eea797c5d1d4c5442b2025-01-24T13:25:42ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252024-12-011512310.3390/brainsci15010023The Role of Virtual Reality in Postural Rehabilitation for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Scoping ReviewFrancesco Agostini0Marco Conti1Giovanni Morone2Giovanni Iudicelli3Andrea Fisicaro4Alessio Savina5Massimiliano Mangone6Marco Paoloni7Department of Anatomical and Histological Sciences, Legal Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Anatomical and Histological Sciences, Legal Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, ItalySan Raffaele Institute of Sulmona, 67039 Sulmona, ItalyDepartment of Anatomical and Histological Sciences, Legal Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Anatomical and Histological Sciences, Legal Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Anatomical and Histological Sciences, Legal Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Anatomical and Histological Sciences, Legal Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Anatomical and Histological Sciences, Legal Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, ItalyParkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide, characterized by bradykinesia, rigidity, tremor, and postural instability. These symptoms often lead to significant postural deformities and an increased risk of falls, severely impacting the quality of life. Conventional rehabilitation methods have shown benefits, but recent advancements suggest that virtual reality (VR) could offer a promising alternative. This scoping review aims to analyze the current literature to evaluate the effectiveness of VR in the postural rehabilitation of patients with PD. A scientific literature search was performed using the following databases: PubMed, PEDro, Cochrane, and Google Scholar, focusing on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in English. Our selection criteria included studies that compared VR-based rehabilitation to traditional methods regarding posture-related outcomes. We identified and analyzed nine RCTs that met our inclusion criteria. The results consistently demonstrated that VR-based rehabilitation leads to greater improvements in balance and gait compared to conventional therapy. Key findings include significant enhancements in balance confidence and postural control and a reduction in fall rates. The superior efficacy of VR-based rehabilitation can be attributed to its engaging and immersive nature, which enhances patient motivation and adherence to therapy. VR allows for precise, repeatable training scenarios tailored to individual patient needs, providing a safe environment to practice and improve motor skills. In conclusion, VR-based rehabilitation represents an innovative approach with substantial potential to improve the quality of life for PD patients. However, limitations such as small sample sizes and short intervention durations in existing studies highlight the need for larger multicenter trials with longer follow-up periods to confirm these findings.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/1/23rehabilitationvirtual realityParkinson’s diseaseposture |
| spellingShingle | Francesco Agostini Marco Conti Giovanni Morone Giovanni Iudicelli Andrea Fisicaro Alessio Savina Massimiliano Mangone Marco Paoloni The Role of Virtual Reality in Postural Rehabilitation for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Scoping Review Brain Sciences rehabilitation virtual reality Parkinson’s disease posture |
| title | The Role of Virtual Reality in Postural Rehabilitation for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Scoping Review |
| title_full | The Role of Virtual Reality in Postural Rehabilitation for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Scoping Review |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Virtual Reality in Postural Rehabilitation for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Scoping Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Virtual Reality in Postural Rehabilitation for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Scoping Review |
| title_short | The Role of Virtual Reality in Postural Rehabilitation for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Scoping Review |
| title_sort | role of virtual reality in postural rehabilitation for patients with parkinson s disease a scoping review |
| topic | rehabilitation virtual reality Parkinson’s disease posture |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/1/23 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT francescoagostini theroleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT marcoconti theroleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT giovannimorone theroleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT giovanniiudicelli theroleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT andreafisicaro theroleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT alessiosavina theroleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT massimilianomangone theroleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT marcopaoloni theroleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT francescoagostini roleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT marcoconti roleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT giovannimorone roleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT giovanniiudicelli roleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT andreafisicaro roleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT alessiosavina roleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT massimilianomangone roleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview AT marcopaoloni roleofvirtualrealityinposturalrehabilitationforpatientswithparkinsonsdiseaseascopingreview |