Stroke can lead to dysfunction of movement, sensation, cognition and other functions, eventually affect the quality of life of patients. Many patients suffer from severe and persistent upper limb dysfunction. Upper limb rehabilitation has always been a focus in clinical practice and scientific research of rehabilitation field. As an emerging technology, virtual reality (VR) provides simulated environments for patients to enhance their participation and experience, and has been more and more widely used in stroke rehabilitation. This paper reviews the application and research progress of VR in upper limb rehabilitation after stroke, discusses the current evidences based on both the independent application of VR and the application of VR combined with other rehabilitation interventions, and indicates that VR can play a positive role in promoting the upper limb strength and coordination of stroke patients and enhancing their motivation to participant in rehabilitation. In the future, more high-quality studies are needed to further confirm the efficacy and optimal parameter settings.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy of virtual reality technology on cognitive dysfunction in patients with cerebral vascular accident (CVA).MethodsEMbase, Web of Science, PubMed, The Cochrane Library, WanFang Data, VIP and CNKI databases were electronically searched to collect the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on virtual reality technology on cognitive dysfunction in patients with CVA from inception to December 31st, 2020. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed risk of bias of included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsA total of 25 RCTs involving 1 113 patients were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the scores of MBI (MD=9.24, 95%CI 1.91 to 16.56, P=0.01), MMSE (MD=3.02, 95%CI 1.11 to 4.93, P=0.002) and RBMT-2 (MD=2.74, 95%CI 1.97 to 3.51, P<0.000 01) in VR group were superior to the control group. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in scores of BI, MOCA, and VCPT.ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that virtual reality technology may have positively influence on cognitive function and participation in the daily life activities of patients with CVA. Due to the limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusions.