Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Authors
1 Department of Physical Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Department of Motor behavior and sports psychology, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
3 Department of Motor behavior and sports psychology, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health , University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Introduction: Purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of virtual reality training on proprioceptive function of elbow joint in hemiplegic children.
methods: Twenty boys ranging from 7 to 12 years, from special schools in Tehran, were randomly divided into the experimental and control groups. The devise used for virtual reality intervention was Xbox 360 Kinect (Microsoft, New York, and United State). Gyroscope device was used for measuring elbow’s joint position sense. Participants in the experimental group took part in the Virtual Reality (VR) program; participants in the control group continued their traditional therapy program. Paired sample t test and independent sample t test were used using SPSS software version 18 at p <0.05 level.
Results: Results of independent sample t test showed that although a significant difference was no observed in joint position sense between the experimental and control groups during the pre-test phase (t=0.07, df=18, p=0.944); in the post-test phase, virtual training resulted in better scores for the experimental group (t=2.3, df = 18, p=0.03). Based on the results of paired sample t test, virtual training resulted in significant progress for joint position sense in the experimental group.
Conclusion: Our results about using VR systems for patients with CP were in agreement with the findings by Denise Reid. VR intervention results in CP children could be justified by self-efficacy and motor learning theories. This type of therapy yields significant improvements for participants, since it lets them explore new experiences that would otherwise be difficult or dangerous.
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