The effect of rehabilitation in a virtual reality environment on improving balance in older adults with Parkinsons disease: A systematic review

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common form of Parkinsonism, a group of neurological disorders, and the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. More than six million people worldwide are affected by PD. Over the past two decades, Virtual Reality (VR) technology and commercial gaming devices are used as intervention tools for rehabilitation. The aim of this systematic review is to study the efficacy of rehabilitation in VR environments in improving balance in older adults with PD. Method: The Google Scholar, Pub-Med, and PEDro databases were searched in March 2022. Different Boolean operators were used in the search with the following keywords: Parkinson OR Parkinson’s disease AND balance AND virtual reality OR vr AND older adults OR elderly. The search was filtered for clinical studies published in the last 10 years. Results: Eight clinical studies were found to meet the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The total sample was 259 older adults with PD. The intervention means for rehabilitation were VR environments, which were compared with conventional therapy. Discussion – Conclusions: The results of the review show that rehabilitation in VR environments positively affects balance in older adults with PD, equally or more than conventional therapy. Further research on the subject would help form a more complete picture.