Efficacy of the Nintendo Wii combination with Conventional Exercises in the rehabilitation of individuals with Parkinson's disease: A randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Background: Studies have demonstrated that the combination of Nintendo Wii (NW) with Conventional Exercises (CE) was effective in the rehabilitation of patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD), but there are no studies comparing the effects of this combination on both techniques isolated.

Objective: To investigate if the effects of the combination of NW to CE are superior to isolated techniques in the rehabilitation of balance, gait, functional mobility and improvement of the quality of life of individuals with PD.

Methods: 45 patients with PD were divided into three groups, NW alone, CE alone and NW plus EC. The sessions occurred for 50 minutes, twice a week and evaluations administered before and after the 2-month intervention.

Results: Significant differences were found in the pre and post intervention analyzes of all the outcomes in the three groups, but there was no difference between the groups. The effect size was evaluated, in which the NW plus CE group had a greater magnitude of the therapeutic effect.

Conclusion: The NW plus CE was statistically as effective as each intervention alone in the rehabilitation of patients with PD, however, the use of this combination provided a magnitude of the therapeutic effect superior to the other groups.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; conventional exercises; rehabilitation; virtual reality.