Use of virtual reality intervention to improve reaction time in children with cerebral palsy: A randomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the training effects of Virtual Reality (VR) intervention program on reaction time in children with cerebral palsy. Methods: Thirty boys ranging from 7 to 12 years (mean = 11.20; SD = .76) were selected by available sampling method and randomly divided into the experimental and control groups. Simple Reaction Time (SRT) and Discriminative Reaction Time (DRT) were measured at baseline and 1 day after completion of VR intervention. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and paired sample t-test were performed to analyze the results. Results: MANOVA test revealed significant effects for group in posttest phase, with lower reaction time in both measures for the experimental group. Based on paired sample t-test results, both RT measures significantly improved in experimental group following the VR intervention program. Conclusions: This paper proposes VR as a promising tool into the rehabilitation process for improving reaction time in children with cerebral palsy.

KEYWORDS:

• Cerebral palsy
• reaction time
• virtual reality
• Xbox

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank CP children and families for their participating in this research, and the school staff for their assistance in recruiting children. We also express gratitude to the staff in Motor Behavior Laboratory for their assistance with data collection.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.