title: Active Video Gaming for Children with Cerebral Palsy: Does a Clinic-Based Virtual Reality Component Offer an Additive Benefit? A Pilot Study.
abstract: To compare changes in gross motor skills and functional mobility between ambulatory children with cerebral palsy who underwent a 1-week clinic-based virtual reality intervention (VR) followed by a 6-week, therapist-monitored home active video gaming (AVG) program and children who completed only the 6-week home AVG program.
  
  
  
  Pilot non-randomized controlled trial. Five children received 1 hour of VR training for 5 days followed by a 6-week home AVG program, supervised online by a physical therapist. Six children completed only the 6-week home AVG program. The Gross Motor Function Measure Challenge Module (GMFM-CM) and Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT) evaluated change.
  
  
  
  There were no significant differences between groups. The home AVG-only group demonstrated a statistically and clinically significant improvement in GMFM-CM scores following the 6-week AVG intervention (median difference 4.5 points, interquartile range [IQR] 4.75, p = 0.042). The VR + AVG group demonstrated a statistically and clinically significant decrease in 6MWT distance following the intervention (median decrease 68.2 m, IQR 39.7 m, p = 0.043). All 6MWT scores returned to baseline at 2 months post-intervention.
  
  
  
  Neither intervention improved outcomes in this small sample. Online mechanisms to support therapist-child communication for exercise progression were insufficient to individualize exercise challenge.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physical Therapy, Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences , Northeastern University , Boston , Massachusetts , USA.
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7356-9335
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Levac
authors.affiliation: b Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine , University of Ottawa , Ottawa , Ontario , Canada.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.affiliation: c School of Physical and Occupational Therapy , McGill University , Montreal , Quebec , Canada.
authors.forename: Mindy F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.affiliation: d Physiotherapy, Ottawa Children's Treatment Center , Ottawa , Ontario , Canada.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brien
authors.affiliation: e School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences , University of Ottawa , Ottawa , Ontario , Canada.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3249-7539
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.affiliation: f Medical Imaging Department , Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario , Ottawa , Ontario , Canada.
authors.forename: Elka
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1075-5952
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: g Faculty of Health Sciences , University of Ottawa , Ottawa , Ontario , Canada.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7335-8121
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sveistrup
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018910:Video Games; D000076142:Virtual Reality
keywords: Active video games; cerebral palsy; home exercise programs; virtual reality