Comparison of Occupational Performance in Immersive Virtual and Real Environments Among Patients With Stroke: Observational Randomized Crossover Pilot Study

Considering the small sample size used in this study and the study's limitations, despite the significant correlation between shopping performance in IVR and the real world, it is still too early to conclude that IVR is a noninferior approach, but it presents the potential to be an alternative for assessment and training in IADLs when resources are limited. However, further research is needed to investigate the psychometric properties, clinical effects, and impact of virtual training on real-world performance. The implications for practice might include the following: (1) occupational performance in virtual shopping might be the same as real-world shopping, and more virtual IADLs could thus be developed; (2) virtual IADL assessment and training systems could be used in remote locations or locations with limited resources; and (3) more objective parameters of IADLs could be extracted from virtual environments.