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Exergames Encouraging Exploration of Hemineglected Space in Stroke Patients With Visuospatial Neglect: A Feasibility Study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Use of exergames can complement conventional therapy and increase the amount and intensity of visuospatial neglect (VSN) training. A series of 9 exergames-games based on therapeutic principles-aimed at improving exploration of the neglected space for patients with VSN symptoms poststroke was developed and tested for its feasibility. OBJECTIVES:The goal was to determine the feasibility of the exergames with minimal supervision in terms of (1) implementation of the intervention, including adherence, attrition and safety, and (2) limited efficacy testing, aiming to document possible effects on VSN symptoms in a case series of patients early poststroke. METHODS:A total of 7 patients attended the 3-week exergames training program on a daily basis. Adherence of the patients was documented in a training diary. For attrition, the number of participants lost during the intervention was registered. Any adverse events related to the exergames intervention were noted to document safety. Changes in cognitive and spatial exploration skills were measured with the Zürich Maxi Mental Status Inventory and the Neglect Test. Additionally, we developed an Eye Tracker Neglect Test (ETNT) using an infrared camera to detect and measure neglect symptoms pre- and postintervention. RESULTS:The median was 14 out of 15 (93%) attended sessions, indicating that the adherence to the exergames training sessions was high. There were no adverse events and no drop-outs during the exergame intervention. The individual cognitive and spatial exploration skills slightly improved postintervention (P=.06 to P=.98) and continued improving at follow-up (P=.04 to P=.92) in 5 out of 7 (71%) patients. Calibration of the ETNT was rather error prone. The ETNT showed a trend for a slight median group improvement from 15 to 16 total located targets (+6%). CONCLUSIONS:The high adherence rate and absence of adverse events showed that these exergames were feasible and safe for the participants. The results of the amount of exergames use is promising for future applications and warrants further investigations-for example, in the home setting of patients to augment training frequency and intensity. The preliminary results indicate the potential of these exergames to cause improvements in cognitive and spatial exploration skills over the course of training for stroke patients with VSN symptoms. Thus, these exergames are proposed as a motivating training tool to complement usual care. The ETNT showed to be a promising assessment for quantifying spatial exploration skills. However, further adaptations are needed, especially regarding calibration issues, before its use can be justified in a larger study sample.

SUBMITTER: Tobler-Ammann BC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5591404 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Exergames Encouraging Exploration of Hemineglected Space in Stroke Patients With Visuospatial Neglect: A Feasibility Study.

Tobler-Ammann Bernadette C BC Surer Elif E de Bruin Eling D ED Rabuffetti Marco M Borghese N Alberto NA Mainetti Renato R Pirovano Michele M Wittwer Lia L Knols Ruud H RH

JMIR serious games 20170825 3

<h4>Background</h4>Use of exergames can complement conventional therapy and increase the amount and intensity of visuospatial neglect (VSN) training. A series of 9 exergames-games based on therapeutic principles-aimed at improving exploration of the neglected space for patients with VSN symptoms poststroke was developed and tested for its feasibility.<h4>Objectives</h4>The goal was to determine the feasibility of the exergames with minimal supervision in terms of (1) implementation of the interv ...[more]

PMID: 28842388

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Project description:BackgroundVisuospatial neglect due to stroke is characterized by the inability to perceive stimuli emerging in the area opposite to the side of brain damage. Besides adopting conventional rehabilitation methods to treat neglect symptoms, the use of virtual reality (VR) is becoming increasingly popular. We designed a series of 9 exergames aimed to improve exploration of the neglected side of space. When new VR interventions are designed, it is important to assess the usability aspects of such management strategies within the target population. To date, most studies used questionnaires to assess user satisfaction with the intervention or product being tested. However, only a combination of both quantitative and qualitative data allows a full picture of user perspective.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to quantitatively and qualitatively assess patient and therapist perspectives of a VR intervention based on the series of 9 exergames designed to explore hemineglected space. Specifically, we wanted to evaluate (1) perceived-user friendliness of the exergames, (2) attitude towards using the exergames, and (3) intention to use the exergames in the future.MethodsA total of 19 participants (7 patients, 12 therapists) evaluated the exergames they had used 5 times a week during 3 weeks. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) questionnaire was filled out after the intervention. Based on those responses, we conducted focus group interviews (with therapists) and individual interviews (with patients). To analyze the TAM questionnaires, we used descriptive statistics. We adopted content and comparative analysis to analyze the interviews and drew illustration maps to analyze the focus group interviews.ResultsThe therapists took a more critical stance with a mean TAM questionnaire total score of 48.6 (SD 4.5) compared to the patients who had a mean total score of 56.1 (SD 12.3). The perceived user-friendliness score was 5.6 (SD 1.4) for patients and 4.9 (SD 1.4) for therapists. The attitude towards using the exergames was rated 4.8 (SD 1.9) by patients and 3.6 (SD 1.4) by therapists, respectively. The intention to use the exergames in the future was rated 3.9 (SD 2.1) by patients and 3.7 (SD 1.8) by therapists. We gained information on how to improve the exergames in the interviews.ConclusionsPatients and therapists perceived the exergames as user-friendly; however, using the games further with the actual test version was not perceived as conceivable. The therapists were generally more critical towards future use than the patients. Therefore, involving both users to achieve acceptable and user-friendly versions of game-based rehabilitation for the future is deemed crucial and warranted.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT02353962; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02353962 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6soxIJlAZ).

Project description:Spatial neglect has been shown to occur in 17-65% of patients after acute left-hemispheric stroke. One reason for this varying incidence values might be that left-hemispheric stroke is often accompanied by aphasia, which raises difficulties in assessing attention deficits with conventional neuropsychological tests entailing verbal instructions. Video-oculography during free visual exploration (FVE) requires only little understanding of simple non-verbal instruction and has been shown to be a sensitive and reliable tool to detect spatial neglect in patients with right-hemispheric stroke. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the feasibility of FVE to detect neglect in 10 left-hemispheric stroke patients with mild to severe aphasia as assessed by means of the Token Test, Boston Naming Test and Aachener Aphasie Test. The patient's individual deviation between eye movement calibration and validation was recorded and compared to 20 age-matched healthy controls. Furthermore, typical FVE parameters such as the landing point of the first fixation, the mean gaze position (in ° of visual angle), the number and duration of visual fixations and the mean visual exploration area were compared between groups. In addition, to evaluate for neglect, the Bells cancellation test was performed and neglect severity in daily living was measured by means of the Catherine Bergego Scale (CBS). Our results showed that the deviation between calibration and validation did not differ between aphasia patients and healthy controls highlighting its feasibility. Furthermore, FVE revealed the typical neglect pattern with a significant leftward shift in visual exploration bahaviour, which highly correlated with neglect severity as assessed with CBS. The present study provides evidence that FVE has the potential to be used as a neglect screening tool in left-hemispheric stroke patients with aphasia in which compliance with verbal test instructions may be compromised by language deficits.

Dataset Information

Exergames Encouraging Exploration of Hemineglected Space in Stroke Patients With Visuospatial Neglect: A Feasibility Study.

Publications

Exergames Encouraging Exploration of Hemineglected Space in Stroke Patients With Visuospatial Neglect: A Feasibility Study.

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