Kinect-based Virtual Rehabilitation for Upper Extremity Motor Recovery in Chronic Stroke

Kinect-based virtual rehabilitation improves upper extremity motor function in stroke patients by providing intensive and repetitive exercise. This study evaluated the use of Kinect-based virtual rehabilitation in the upper extremity motor recovery of patients with chronic stroke. In this pre-post study, seven stroke patients performed physiotherapy exercises by using games three times a week for one month. The primary outcome was measuring upper extremity motor function by using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale for upper extremities, and measuring shoulder and elbow range of motion by goniometry. The secondary outcome was measuring the Brunnstrom recovery stages and the Modified Modified Ashworth Scale (MMAS). The data were analyzed in SPSS via the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The Kinect-based virtual rehabilitation led to motor improvement in terms of the Fugl-Meyer assessment scores (p = .01). The range of motion was also improved in terms of shoulder flexion (p = 0.02) and horizontal shoulder adduction (p = 0.02). All the participants believed that virtual rehabilitation was an enjoyable and motivational method and suggested that the number of games and movements be increased. Therefore, Kinect-based virtual rehabilitation led to motor recovery in the participants. Since the sample size was small, it is recommended that future studies examine larger samples and include a control group.