BACKGROUND: Patients with traumatic brain injury often have balance and attentive disorders. Video game therapy (VGT) has been proposed as a new intervention to improve mobility and attention through a reward-learning approach. In this pilot randomized, controlled trial, we tested the effects of VGT, compared with a balance platform therapy (BPT), on balance, mobility and selective attention in chronic traumatic brain injury patients. METHODS: We enrolled chronic traumatic brain injury patients (n = 21) that randomly received VGT or BPT for 3 sessions per week for 6 weeks. The clinical outcome measures included: (i) the Community Balance and Mobility Scale (CB+M); (ii) the Unified Balance Scale (UBS); (iii) the Timed Up and Go test (TUG); (iv) static balance and (v) selective visual attention evaluation (Go/Nogo task). RESULTS: Both groups improved in CB+M scores, but only the VGT group increased on the UBS and TUG with a between-group significance (p < 0.05). Selective attention improved significantly in the VGT group (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Video game therapy is an option for the management of chronic traumatic brain injury patients to ameliorate balance and attention deficits. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01883830, April 5 2013.

Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):      help

• PubMed Central
• DOI
• PubMed
• PDF locator
• publisher