Banca de DEFESA: THAIANA BARBOSA FERREIRA PACHECO

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : THAIANA BARBOSA FERREIRA PACHECO
DATE: 20/04/2020
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: VIDEOCONFERÊNCIA
TITLE:

DEVELOPMENT AND USABILITY OF A VIRTUAL GAME FOR BALANCE REHABILITATION FOR OLDER ADULTS

KEY WORDS:

Motivation, Video games, Physiotherapy, Postural Balance, Aging

PAGES: 130
BIG AREA: Ciências da Saúde
AREA: Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional
SUMMARY:

Introduction: Aging causes physiological changes that may compromise the adaptation to daily living demands, leading to restrictions on postural balance and their functional independence. A variety of therapeutic approaches have prioritized postural balance restoration or maintenance, highlighting the Virtual Reality-based therapies (VR). In this sense, serious games have been developed in order to adapt the virtual environment to the patient's therapeutic demands and needs, reflecting positively on the effectiveness and usability of this type of tool. Objectives: 1) To develop a systematic review aiming to summarize the evidence of the use of serious and commercial digital games on postural balance of the older adults; 2) Develop a serious game for balance training of older adults using a low cost motion capture system. 3) To perform a content validity of the game. 4) To test, in a pilot study, the applicability and the effect of the game on the balance and physical performance of older adults.  Methodology: This study involved three types of methodological modalities: 1) Systematic Review; 2) Development and validation of a utility model (digital game) for postural balance rehabilitation and 3) Pilot study with an experimental design with 50 older adults. The participants of the pilot study were subjected to a balance assessment by using a Force Plate and the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and a physical performance assessment with the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Participants’ were ramdomly allocated in experimental or control group. The experimental group performed an intervention protocol using the digital game developed by the researchers of this study - called VirtualTer (Virtual Therapy), 3 times a week for two weeks and duration of 20 minutes each session. The control group received a booklet with 5 exercises based on the Otago protocol to be performed at home with the same duration and frequency as the experimental group. At the end of the intervention period, participants were reevaluated, using the same procedures as the initial assessment. Results: 1) Systematic Review - 12 studies comparing exergames with no intervention were included. A total of 1520 older adults were included in the studies, with a mean age of 76±6 in the experimental groups and 76±5 in control groups. 03 studies found significant improvements in balance considering the BBS and center of pressure oscillation. 03 studies found improvements in mobility, considering the Timed up and Go test, 30-second sit-to-stand test and the alternate step test. 2) Game development: VirtualTer was developed by a team of physiotherapists and computer scientists from Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. The main objective of this serious game was to promote balance training for older adults in a motivating and representative environment. VirtualTer uses Kinect for motion capture in tasks involving stationary walk, lateral reaching, and go up and down steps, divided in 03 phases with different levels of difficulty. 3) Content Validity: The content of the game was validated by 11 specialists (45.5% physiotherapists and 54.5% science and technology professionals). The total CVI of the game was 0.8 and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.924. 4) Pilot Study: Fifty older adults participated in the pilot study.  VirtualTer group showed statistically significant within-group differences for eyes close test on CoP velocity (p = 0,04) and CoP total trajectory (p = 0,03) and both groups showed significant increase in BBS and SPPB. No between-group difference was observed. Virtualter had 77.1% of satisfaction according to SUS. Conclusion: Although signifant improvments were observed in VirtualTer group in within-group analyses, in a 2-week intervention protocol VirtualTer does not significantly improve parameters related to postural balance and SPPB in comparison to control. Future studies should investigate whether longer period of intervention can be effective.

BANKING MEMBERS:
Externa à Instituição - DEBORA CARVALHO DE OLIVEIRA
Presidente - 2374822 - FABRICIA AZEVEDO DA COSTA CAVALCANTI
Externa à Instituição - LUCIANA PROTASIO DE MELO - UES - RN
Externo ao Programa - 1763991 - RUMMENIGGE RUDSON DANTAS
Interna - 350635 - TANIA FERNANDES CAMPOS