Inpatient Exergames for Children with Cerebral Palsy following Lower Extremity Orthopedic Surgery: A Feasibility Study

ABSTRACT

Objective: Evaluate the feasibility of implementing cycling-based exergames for children with cerebral palsy (CP) following lower extremity orthopedic surgery and explore its impact on pain and well-being.

Methods: Ten children with CP were recruited; the first five received physiotherapy (comparison) and next five received fifteen exergame sessions over 3 weeks and physiotherapy (case) (NCT0376907). Feasibility indicators evaluated recruitment, questionnaire and exergame completion. Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R), PROMIS Pediatric Pain Interference Scale (PPIS), and KIDSCREEN-27 were administered. Wilcoxon signed-rank and effect size (r) tests evaluated within-group differences and between-group differences were assessed using Mann–Whitney U tests.

Results: All feasibility indicators were met. Large effects for improved case group pain were identified (FPS-R r = 0.60, PPIS r = 0.58), as well as significant improvement in KIDSCREEN-27 total (U = 0.50, p = .05) and psychological well-being (U = 3.00, p = .01) scores, favoring the case group.

Conclusions: Incorporating pediatric exergames is feasible and demonstrates potential for improving pain and well-being.

KEYWORDS:

• Cerebral palsy
• exergame
• neurotechnology
• orthopedic
• rehabilitation

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the participants and families who participated in this study. This research was supported by Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital’s Centre for Leadership program, the Ontario Brain Institute and A.C. received Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Canadian Graduate Scholarship (CIHR-CGS M) award. The funders have no involvement in study design, data collection, data analysis, and article preparation or publication decisions. D.F., N.G., and L.S. have intellectual property interest surrounding the Liberi Exergames.

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship-Master’s (CGS M)]; Holland Bloorview’s Center for Leadership Program [n/a] and the Ontario Brain Institute.