Virtual Reality in the Neurorehabilitation of Patients with Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease: Pilot Study

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition that affects the quality of life due to motor (gait, balance) and cognitive alterations, raising the risk of falling. Virtual reality (RV) and dancing have shown benefits in speed of walking, balance, and postural stability and decreased risk of falls. Background/Objectives: To analyze the effectiveness of RV and dance, using a Kinect Xbox 360 video game, to improve the speed of running, motor performance and reduce the risk of falls in patients with PD. Methods: Pilot, quantitative, comparative, prospective, longitudinal study. Fourteen patients with PD in stages 1 to 4 of Hoehn and Yahr, of the National Institute of Neurology participated. Before and after the intervention, motor tests UPDRS-III, TUG and Tinetti were applied. The intervention consisted of 16 sessions, twice a week, which included warm-up, coordination exercises, 10 songs and cooling. Results: The effect of the intervention with RV was observed in the improvement of motor tests, Timed Up & Go Test (z = -2.640, p = 0.008), gear (z = -3.316, p = 0.001) and balance (z = -2.966, p = 0.001) and on the UPDRS-III scale, in the total index (z = -3.048, p = 0.002). The difficulty level advance was shown in the dance (X2 = 144.13 p <0.01). Conclusions: The intervention of RV with dancing is effective in increasing the speed of the gear, better motor performance in tests of postural stability, reduction of rigidity, bradykinesia and risk of falls.