ABSTRACT
Introduction and objective
This pilot study aimed to evaluate whether and to what extent cybersickness (CS) may affect a rehabilitation program using the Computer-assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN), a virtual reality (VR) computer-assisted device for clinical rehabilitation.
Methods
The study was carried out on 30 subjects, 15 patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and 15 healthy controls (HC), which underwent a set of four exergames programmed by our team for PD rehabilitation training.
Results
All participants completed the Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire Short-form (MSSQ) before the training and the Motion Symptoms Assessment Questionnaire (MSAQ) immediately after a single CAREN session. Overall, mean MSAQ scores remained low after the session, suggesting that the users did not experience severe discomfort. We found no significant difference in MSAQ scores between the two groups, while there was a statistically significant difference for the subsection of MSAQ regarding the peripheral symptoms (i.e. sweating, cold sweating, feeling warm), which were higher in HC. Moreover, the results highlighted some correlation between MSSQ and MSAQ. Gastrointestinal symptoms in PD, as well as MSSQ and sopite-related symptoms in HC, were also correlated with susceptibility to CS.
Conclusions
As CS is rarely reported after CAREN, this and similar devices may be considered comfortable and safe for patients’ rehabilitation involving VR training, including PD persons.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Jennifer Filistad for English editing
Disclosure statement
The authors state no conflict of interests.