Article

Video games have become popular in stroke rehabilitation; however,
the nature of this intervention is not fully understood. OBJECTIVES: To compare
the number of (a) purposeful and nonpurposeful repetitions of the weaker upper
extremity (UE) and (b) movement accelerations as assessed by accelerometer
activity counts of the weaker and stronger UEs of individuals with chronic stroke
while playing video games or participating in traditional therapy. METHODS:
Twenty-nine individuals (mean age 59 years, 1-7 years poststroke) took part in a
group intervention of video -games (n = 15) or traditional therapy (n = 14) as
part of a randomized controlled trial. During 1-2 sessions, participants were
video-taped while wearing wrist accelerometers. Assessors counted the number of
repetitions and classified movements as purposeful or nonpurposeful using
videotapes. The weaker UE motor impairments were correlated to movement
accelerations, to determine if participants were using their potential during the
sessions. RESULTS: Participants in the video game group performed a median of 271
purposeful movements and 37 970 activity counts compared to 48 purposeful
movements and 14,872 activity counts in the traditional group (z = -3.0, P = .001
and z = -1.9, P = .05, respectively). Participants in the traditional group
performed a median of 26 nonpurposeful (exercises) compared with 0 in the video
game group (z = -4.2, P = .000). Strong significant correlations were found
between the motor ability of the weak UE to repetitions of participants in both
groups (r = .86, P < .01). Participants with higher motor ability performed more
repetitions. CONCLUSIONS: Video games elicited more UE purposeful repetitions and
higher acceleration of movement compared with traditional therapy in individuals
with chronic stroke.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS