Validation of a low-cost virtual reality system for training street-crossing. A comparative study in healthy, neglected and non-neglected stroke individuals

Neuropsychol Rehabil. 2013;23(4):597-618. doi: 10.1080/09602011.2013.806269. Epub 2013 Jun 14.

Abstract

Unilateral spatial neglect is a common consequence of stroke that directly affects the performance of activities of daily living. This impairment is traditionally assessed with paper-and-pencil tests that can lack correspondence to real life and are easily compensated. Virtual reality can immerse patients in more ecological scenarios, thus providing therapists with new tools to assess and train the effects of this impairment in simulated real tasks. This paper presents the clinical validation and convergent validity of a low-cost virtual reality system for training street-crossing in stroke patients with and without neglect. The performance of neglect patients was significantly worse than the performance of non-neglect and healthy participants. In addition, several correlations between the scores in the system and in the traditional scales were detected.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Activities of Daily Living
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Cues
  • Female
  • Functional Laterality
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care
  • Perceptual Disorders / etiology*
  • Perceptual Disorders / rehabilitation*
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Space Perception / physiology*
  • Stroke / complications*
  • Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy / methods*