【論文摘要】The Effect of Treadmill Training With Virtual Reality in Healthy Older Adults: A Systematic Review

【論文摘要】以系統性文獻回顧探討虛擬實境結合跑步機訓練於健康老人之效用

康逢尚(Phunsuk Kantha) ； 林居正(Jiu-Jenq Lin) ； 徐瑋勵(Wei-Li Hsu)

《物理治療》 46卷2期 (2021/06) Pp. 170-170

https://doi.org/10.6215/FJPT.202106.P67

摘要

Background and Purpose: Treadmill training was widely used for rehabilitation or exercise in older adults. Although older adults were not diagnosed with disorders, such as neurological and musculoskeletal disorders, they were also reported balance deficits. The balance deficits can lead to risk of falls, which it requires an appropriated or a specific training. To achieve a task-specific training and a multisensory integration, treadmill training with virtual reality (TTVR) has been developed in rehabilitation to improve balance ability. The virtual simulation can also provide a greater experience, such as walking on the road, during a training session. The virtual simulation presents a novel opportunity for designing an intervention which can apply with a large group of population appropriately. However, the effectiveness of TTVR on the balance has not been conducted. Therefore, the aim of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of TTVR in older adults. Methods: A systematic search was performed in published articles available on PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase. The search was conducted up to November, 2020. To focus on updated studies, this systematic review was limited published articles in the past 5 years (i.e., 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020). This review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The search was undertaken using following terms to identify potentially relevant studies: ＂Treadmill＂ AND ＂Virtual Reality＂ AND ＂Older Adult* or Elderly＂. Results: The initial search strategy found 51 references (including duplicates) from the 3 electronic databases. After duplicates were removed, 23 references were assessed by 3 authors. Based on titles and abstracts, 4 manuscripts were considered relevant and the full texts were analyzed. Results show that TTVR for 1 to 6 month training can improve balance and decrease falls. The included articles were also assessed for methodological quality with Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. The PEDro scores for the included studies are overall of high quality with a mean of 6.3 (standard deviation [SD]: ± 0.9) and scores ranging from 5 to 8 out of 10. The type of TTVR interventions varied greatly among the included studies. Two studies used the non-immersive virtual system, while the others used semi-immersive virtual system. There was no adverse event reported in these studies. Conclusion: The results from this review provide evidence that TTVR have beneficial effects on balance improvement and falls reduction in healthy older adults. Our study also provides information (such as training time) for further studies that prove the effectiveness of existing virtual reality technologies. Clinical Relevance: In our view, the development of TTVR intervention can lead to improve the balance and are likely to be an optional training in the conventional rehabilitation.