Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disease that is specially characterized by impairments in social communication and social skills. ASD has a high prevalence in children, affecting 1 in 160 subjects. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as an effective tool for intervention in the health field. Different recent papers have reviewed the VR-based treatments in ASD, but they have an important limitation because they only use clinical databases and do not include important technical indexes such as the Web of Science index or the Scimago Journal & Country Rank. To our knowledge, this is the first contribution that has carried out an evidence-based systematic review including both clinical and technical databases about the effectiveness of VR-based intervention in ASD. The initial search identified a total of 450 records. After the exclusion of the papers that are not studies, duplicated articles, and the screening of the abstract and full text, 31 articles met the PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison and Outcomes) criteria and were selected for analysis. The studies examined suggest moderate evidence about the effectiveness of VR-based treatments in ASD. VR can add many advantages to the treatment of ASD symptomatology, but it is necessary to develop consistent validations in future studies to state that VR can effectively complement the traditional treatments.

Acquired brain injury (ABI) is the main cause of death and disability among young adults. In most cases, survivors can experience balance instability, resulting in functional impairments that are associated with diminished health-related quality of life. Traditional rehabilitation therapy may be tedious. This can reduce motivation and adherence to the treatment and thus provide a limited benefit to patients with balance disorders. We present eBaViR (easy Balance Virtual Rehabilitation), a system based on the Nintendo® Wii Balance Board® (WBB), which has been designed by clinical therapists to improve standing balance in patients with ABI through motivational and adaptative exercises. We hypothesize that eBaViR, is feasible, safe and potentially effective in enhancing standing balance.

New emerging technologies have proven their efficacy in aiding people in their rehabilitation. The tests that are usually used to evaluate usability (in general) or user satisfaction (in particular) of this technology are not specifically focused on virtual rehabilitation and patients. The objective of this contribution is to present and evaluate the USEQ (User Satisfaction Evaluation Questionnaire). The USEQ is a questionnaire that is designed to properly evaluate the satisfaction of the user (which constitutes part of usability) in virtual rehabilitation systems. Forty patients with balance disorders completed the USEQ after their first session with ABAR (Active Balance Rehabilitation), which is a virtual rehabilitation system that is designed for the rehabilitation of balance disorders. Internal consistency analysis and exploratory factor analysis were carried out to identify the factor structure of the USEQ. The six items of USEQ were significantly associated with each other, and the Cronbach alpha coefficient for the questionnaire was 0.716. In an analysis of the principal components, a one-factor solution was considered to be appropriate. The findings of the study suggest that the USEQ is a reliable questionnaire with adequate internal consistency. With regard to patient perception, the patients found the USEQ to be an easy-to-understand questionnaire with a convenient number of questions.

Objective: To study the clinical effectiveness and the usability of a virtual reality-based intervention compared with conventional physical therapy in the balance recovery of individuals with chronic stroke. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: Outpatient neurorehabilitation unit. Participants: A total of 20 individuals with chronic stroke. Interventions: The intervention consisted of 20 one-hour sessions, five sessions per week. The experimental group combined 30 minutes with the virtual reality-based intervention with 30 minutes of conventional training. The control group underwent one hour conventional therapy. Main measures: Balance performance was assessed at the beginning and at the end of the trial using the Berg Balance Scale, the balance and gait subscales of the Tinetti Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment, the Brunel Balance Assessment, and the 10-m Walking Test. Subjective data of the virtual reality-based intervention were collected from the experimental group, with a feedback questionnaire at the end of the trial. Results: The results revealed a significant group-by-time interaction in the scores of the Berg Balance Scale ( p < 0.05) and in the 10-m Walking Test ( p < 0.05). Post-hoc analyses showed greater improvement in the experimental group: 3.8 ±2.6 vs. 1.8 ±1.4 in the Berg Balance Scale, –1.9 ±1.6 seconds vs. 0.0 ±2.3 seconds in the 10-m Walking Test, and also in the number of participants who increased level in the Brunel Balance Assessment (χ² = 2.5, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Virtual reality interventions can be an effective resource to enhance the improvement of balance in individuals with chronic stroke.

Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet

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