Most Proposed Topic :
Clinical Safety and Quality Service II (projects aiming to enhance clinical safety and outcomes, clinical governance)
Proposed Topic (Second preferred): :
Clinical Safety and Quality Service I (Projects aiming to improve efficiency and effectiveness of care delivery to meet international standards)
Authors: (including presenting author): :
Chan YCD, Kwok YK, Chan YYC, Lam YSS, Au JYT, Chan SPJ, Leung KLK
Affiliation: :
Physiotherapy Department, Kowloon Hospital
Introduction: :
Virtual reality (VR) has been introduced as the intervention for treating phobias, post‐traumatic stress disorder and others. It may also be beneficial to physical and mental rehabilitation for patients. VR exergaming, with real-time visual and auditory feedback, provides a fun and interactive way for exercise training. It could be a potential therapeutic to engage patients with mental disorders in physical activity, improving their physical health and exercise adherence.
Objectives: :
To investigate the effect of VR exergaming on the physical health and exercise adherence of mental disorder patients.
Methodology: :
A quasi-experimental study with single-group pretest-posttest design was conducted from May 2023 to October 2023. Patients attending General Adult Day Hospital (GADH) of the Department of Psychiatry in Kowloon Hospital were recruited. The study utilized a customizable VR exergaming system (EvolvRehab Body), which incorporated motion capture technology. The program included four exercises aimed at improving coordination, balance, strengthening, and functional mobility. Each exercise was repeated twice, and a total of ten training sessions were administered.
Functional Reach Test (FRT), Handgrip strength, Sit-and-Reach, Time Up and Go (TU&G), Single Leg Stance and 30-seconds Sit-to-Stand test were used as indicators for physical health. Attendance of exercise sessions was compared with previous year (2019) that well before the pandemic when VR exergaming was not utilized, for the evaluation of exercise adherence. A self-administered exit-questionnaire was conducted to evaluate the perceived impact and user satisfaction.
Result & Outcome: :
Thirteen patients (mean age 49.92, SD=17.48; 61.5% were male) were recruited. There were significant improvements in FRT from 22.35±1.92cm to 28.27±1.88cm (p=0.023), and TU&G test from 8.93±1.24s to 6.93±0.61s (p=0.011) post-training. The exercise adherence also showed significant improvement, from 29.54±1.20% to 33.56±0.61% (p=0.014) in number of sessions attended. Positive effect was reported by participants in mental wellbeing, physical fitness, health awareness, being respected and user satisfaction (post-training rating mean 7.54-8.77 out of 10) from the exit-questionnaire.
The potential effect of VR exergaming in improving balance, functional mobility and exercise adherence in patients with mental disorders were demonstrated in this study. VR exergaming could be an engaging, motivating and enjoyable form of exercise for patients with mental disorders to improve their physical and mental wellbeing.
