A virtual reality-based endurance training program for COPD patients: acceptability and user experience

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the acceptability and user experience of an in-hospital endurance training program based on the Virtual Park, a semi-immersive Virtual Reality (VR) system for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Materials and methods

Patients performed 20 min of cycling two times/day for around ten days. The evaluation included adherence, exercise capacity, physical performance, and user experience.

Results

Fourteen patients (6 F/8 M; age = 71.29 ± 6.93 years) with mild/moderate COPD participated. The adherence rate was satisfying: 85.71% of patients attended the program without adverse events; the individual attendance rate (86.85% ± 27.43) was also high. The exercise capacity assessed before and after the training significantly improved in our group (6MWT pre-post: t(11)= −5.040, p < 0.05), as happens in standard PR programs. The physical performance metrics of each session indicate that all participants could sustain the proposed training protocol over the whole period. Patients judged the VR experience positively (User Experience Questionnaire = 1.84 ± 0.22) and were highly engaged in the activity for the whole period (Short Flow State Scale pre-post: 4.61 ± 0.27/4.40 ± 0.36).

Conclusions

Our preliminary results open the possibility for further investigations on long-term motivation and clinical effectiveness of more immersive VR interventions for COPD.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• The Virtual Park system is specifically designed for COPD, allows personalized endurance training in compliance with official clinical recommendations, while providing a semi-immersive virtual reality experience of a bicycle ride in a park.

• Patients reported a positive experience after two weeks of training with the Virtual Park cycling system; they were highly engaged in the activity for the whole period and across multiple sessions.

Keywords:

• Virtual reality
• physical training
• pulmonary rehabilitation
• COPD
• acceptability
• user experience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Lombardy Region and Fondazione Cariplo within the 423EMPATIA@Lecco project, Ref. 2016-1428 Decreto Regione Lombardia 6363 - 30 May 2017.