Aerobic Stimulus Induced by Virtual Reality Games in Stroke Survivors.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate whether virtual reality games (VRGs) in stroke survivors produce significant and reproducible heart rate and oxygen consumption (V˙o) responses during their execution, corresponding to an intensity between the anaerobic threshold (AT) and the respiratory compensation point (RCP).

DESIGN

Single-subject, repeated-measure design.

SETTING

Stroke survivors registered from a rehabilitation program.

PARTICIPANTS

Chronic hemiparetic stroke survivors (N=12; 10 men; mean age ± SD, 58±12y) rated at 3 or 4 in the Functional Ambulation Categories.

INTERVENTIONS

Participants underwent, in a random order, 2 identical sessions of VRGs (console Xbox 360 + Kinect) and 1 control session (38min watching a movie). The VRG sessions were composed of 4 sets of VRGs (3min of tennis, 1min for changing the game, and 4min of boxing) interspaced with 2 minutes of rest.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Heart rate and V˙o were measured during the experimental sessions and compared with heart rate and V˙o obtained at AT and RCP assessed during a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test.

RESULTS

Heart rate and V˙o during VRGs had good reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficients, ≥.91 and ≥.85, respectively; coefficients of variation, ≤6.7% and ≤13.7%, respectively). Heart rate during VRGs was similar to AT and significantly lower than RCP (P≤.05), while V˙o was significantly lower than AT and RCP (P<.05).

CONCLUSIONS

An acute session of VRGs composed of tennis and boxing games using the console XBox 360 + Kinect promotes reproducible responses of heart rate and V˙o that corresponded, respectively, to AT and below AT, characterizing a low-intensity aerobic stimulus.