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. 2023 Feb 3;23(3):1712.
doi: 10.3390/s23031712.

Immersive Virtual Reality in Post-Stroke Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review

Andrea Demeco  1 , Laura Zola  1 , Antonio Frizziero  1 , Chiara Martini  2 , Arrigo Palumbo  3 , Ruben Foresti  1 , Giovanni Buccino  4 , Cosimo Costantino  1
Affiliations

Immersive Virtual Reality in Post-Stroke Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review

Andrea Demeco et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

In recent years, next to conventional rehabilitation's techniques, new technologies have been applied in stroke rehabilitation. In this context, fully immersive virtual reality (FIVR) has showed interesting results thanks to the level of immersion of the subject in the illusional world, with the feeling of being a real part of the virtual environment. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of FIVR in stroke rehabilitation. PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus were screened up to November 2022 to identify eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Out of 4623, we included 12 RCTs involving post-acute and chronic stroke survivors, with a total of 350 patients (234 men and 115 women; mean age 58.36 years). High heterogeneity of the outcomes considered, the results showed that FIVR provides additional benefits, in comparison with standard rehabilitation. In particular, results showed an improvement in upper limb dexterity, gait performance and dynamic balance, influencing patient independence. Therefore, FIVR represents an adaptable, multi-faceted rehabilitation tool that can be considered in post-stroke rehabilitation, improving the compliance of the patients to the treatment and increasing the level of functioning and quality of life of stroke survivors.

Keywords: rehabilitation; stroke; virtual reality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 2
Figure 2
PRISMA flow diagram for Systematic Review.
Figure 1
Figure 1
A representation of a head-mounted display, large screen projection system and cave automatic virtual environment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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