Objective: This study was to investigate the effectiveness of a 8-week virtual reality exercise program designed around the Nintendo Wii (Wii), in improving balance among patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Background: PD is one of the most serious cause of impairment of cognition and physical functions in aged persons. Virtual rehabilitation approaches to postural control have been used for improving functional recovery that may lead to a decrease in the risk of falling.

Methods: The study included 26 patients with PD (10 female, 16 male) who were assigned randomly to experimental (n=13) or control group (n=13). Experimental group performed three 40-minute Wii balance-training sessions per week, for 8 weeks. The control group did not perform any of training programs. A computerized dynamic posturography (Sensory Organizing Test, SOT) was used to evaluate all patients at baseline and at the end of the treatment protocol. Statistical significance was tested in between the patients before and after treatment by ANOVA.

Results: After 24 training sessions, SOT showed significant difference on condition 5, 6, and vestibular ratios within the experimental group from baseline to post-intervention. On the other hand, no significant difference was observed within the control groups.

Conclusions: These findings demonstrated that the virtual reality training program could improve the outcomes in terms of balance in PD population. Long term follow ups and the development of more efficient virtual reality training programs are needed.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/virtual-reality-balance-training-with-nintendo-wii-games-improves-dynamic-balance-in-parkinsons-disease-patients/