Comparison of Two Different Virtual Reality Methods in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Summary

As a chronic, autoimmune, inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurologic problem which the most frequent cause of disability in young adults. Fatigue, pain, spasticity, muscle weakness, depression, as well as balance and gait disorders are amongst the symptoms of MS. Balance disorders and the falls caused by them are the most frequent problems which result in disability of MS patients, with 75% of all patients being affected during the course of disease. When considering previous studies carried out on physiotherapy and rehabilitation practices in the light of balance disorders and other related problems faced by MS patients, it can been that various physiotherapeutic approaches are applied with varying follow-up times and in the form of hospital sessions, home sessions, or group training. Posture and balance problems in MS patients are tried to be solved through long-lasting treatment sessions using traditional methods of physiotherapy, where less patient participation is observed. Fatigue, psychological impairment, and insufficient motivation are other aspects which influence the success of treatment and which need to be addressed in MS patients. In contrast to traditional methods of physiotherapy applied in form of long-lasting treatment sessions, technology-supported rehabilitation approaches have emerged in recent years. It can be seen that different systems have started to be employed in the physiotherapy of many chronic diseases, either alone or in company with traditional methods. Even though the clinical use of these systems is becoming widespread, there are certain gaps in terms of the systems' impacts, comparative advantages, or cost effectiveness. Keeping this in mind, the purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the impacts of 'Nintendo Wii Fit' and 'Balance Trainer', as two of the technologic methods with therapeutic impact which have started to be used for different diagnosis groups in recent years, on the balance and posture parameters of MS patients, with the ultimate aim to introduce a whole new point of view to traditional physiotherapy and rehabilitation studies.

Conditions

• Multiple Sclerosis

Interventions

OTHER

Nintendo Wii Fit Balance exercises

Nintendo Wii Fit' training protocol consisted of 'Penguin Slide', 'Table Tilt', 'Ski Slalom', 'Heading' and 'Balance Bubble' games that selected from the Wii Fit Plus balance games section

OTHER

Balance Trainer Balance Exercises

Balance Trainer' training protocol consisted of 'Collect Apples', 'Outline', 'Paddle War' and 'Evaluation of Movement' games which were included in the device software and allowed the patients to done balance exercises in different directions.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Istanbul University

  collaborator OTHER

• Biruni University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

25 Years

Max Age

60 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-07-15

Primary Completion

2017-07-15

Completion

2017-07-15