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Exergaming as a viable therapeutic tool to improve static and dynamic balance among older adults and people with idiopathic Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Harris, Dale M. Rantalainen, Timo Muthalib, Makii Johnson, Liam G. Teo, Wei-Peng
Harris, Dale M.
Rantalainen, Timo
Muthalib, Makii
Johnson, Liam G.
Teo, Wei-Peng
Abstract
The use of virtual reality games ( known as “exergaming” ) as a neurorehabilitation tool is gaining interest. Therefore, we aim to collate evidence for the effects of exergaming on the balance and postural control of older adults and people with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease ( IPD ). Six electronic databases were searched, from inception to April 2015, to identify relevant studies. Standardized mean differences ( SMDs ) and 95% confidence intervals ( CI ) were used to calculate effect sizes between experimental and control groups. I2 statistics were used to determine levels of heterogeneity. 325 older adults and 56 people with IPD who were assessed across 11 ¬studies. The results showed that exergaming improved static balance ( SMD 1.069, 95% CI 0.563–1.576 ), postural control ( SMD 0.826, 95% CI 0.481–1.170 ), and dynamic balance ( SMD −0.808, 95% CI −1.192 to −0.424 ) in healthy older adults. Two IPD studies showed an improvement in static balance ( SMD 0.124, 95% CI −0.581 to 0.828 ) and postural control ( SMD 2.576, 95% CI 1.534–3.599 ). Our findings suggest that exergaming might be an appropriate therapeutic tool for improving balance and postural control in older adults, but more ¬large-scale trials are needed to determine if the same is true for people with IPD.
Keywords
Parkinson’s Disease, balance, exergaming, older, adults
Date
2015
Type
Journal article
Journal
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
Book
Volume
7
Issue
Page Range
1-12
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Open access
License
File Access
Open
Notes
© 2015 Harris, Rantalainen, Muthalib, Johnson and Teo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.