Games and Telerehabilitation for Balance Impairments and Gaze Dysfunction: Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial.
BACKGROUND
Digital media and gaming have received considerable interest from researchers and clinicians as a model for learning a broad range of complex tasks and facilitating the transfer of skills to daily life. These emerging rehabilitation technologies have the potential to improve clinical outcomes and patient participation because they are engaging, motivating, and accessible. Our research goal is to develop preventative and therapeutic point-of-care eHealth applications that will lead to equivalent or better long-term health outcomes and health care costs than existing programs. We have produced a novel computer-aided tele-rehabilitation platform that combines computer game-based exercises with tele-monitoring.


OBJECTIVE
Compare the therapeutic effectiveness of an in-home, game-based rehabilitation program (GRP) to standard care delivered in an outpatient physical therapy clinic on measures of balance, gaze control, dizziness, and health-related quality of life.


METHODS
A randomized, controlled, single-blind pilot trial will be conducted. Fifty-six participants with a diagnosis of peripheral vestibular disorder will be randomly assigned to either usual physical therapy (comparator group) or to a game-based intervention (experimental group). Measures to be assessed will include gaze control, dynamic balance, and self-reported measures of dizziness.


RESULTS
The project was funded and enrollment was started in August 2014. To date, 36 participants have been enrolled. There have been 6 drop-outs. It is expected that the study will be completed January 2016 and the first results are expected to be submitted for publication in Spring of 2016.


CONCLUSIONS
A successful application of this rehabilitation program would help streamline rehabilitation services, leverage therapist time spent with clients, and permit regular practice times at the client's convenience.


BACKGROUND
Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02134444; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02134444 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6cE18bqqY).
College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. tony.szturm@umanitoba.ca.
Tony
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1450-0693
T
Szturm
Jordan
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8013-3537
J
Hochman
Christine
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9387-3120
C
Wu
Lix
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8685-3212
L
Lisa
Karen
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0081-9329
K
Reimer
Beth
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3170-417X
B
Wonneck
Andrea
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0757-386X
A
Giacobbo
balance-exercises; gaze-exercises; home therapy; telerehabilitation; therapeutic-gaming; vestibular rehabilitation