BACKGROUND

Pediatric neurorehabilitation has recently employed virtual reality (VR) technologies as a platform to design and implement novel modalities.

AIMS

To evaluate the feasibility of a multi-component VR-based program on motor skills and functional postural control for children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (HCP).

METHODS

A single-case-experimental design was conducted on eight children with HCP (12.33 ± 4.71 years and GMFCS= II, I). The VR-based program consisted of 3 sessions per week for four weeks. Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, Functional Reach Test (FRT), Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS), Activities Scale for Kids (ASK), ABILHAND-Kids, and Box and Block Test (BBT) were used to evaluate functional changes.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

Statistical analysis showed that improvements in functional postural control were significant on at least one balance measure for seven out of eight participants during the intervention phase. For all participants, a significant increase was observed in the BBT scores. Before-after intervention analysis revealed statistically significant improvements in PBS ( = -2.52,  ≤ 0.01), ABILHAND-Kids ( = -2.25,  ≤ 0.01), and ASK ( = -2.38,  ≤ 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

This study provided early evidence of the effectiveness of the multi-component VR-based program in children with HCP. However, future studies with randomized controlled trial design are needed to evaluate the long-term effects and compare them with conventional rehabilitation practice.