Fully Immersive Virtual Reality for Cognitive Functions of Children with Down Syndrome: Randomized clinical Trial

Background: Children with Down syndrome (DS) have overall cognitive and adaptive functioning impairments. Specific cognitive domains are mainly affected such as attention and visual memory. Immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR) hold great potential in delivering enjoyable and therapeutic experiences. Objective: To identify the effect of fully-immersive VR technology on cognitive functions of children with DS. Methods: Thirty boys with DS aged from 7 to 10 years who attended a special school, were selected and assigned into 2 equal groups; the control group practiced their regular activities of school and daily living (received no treatment); and the study group practiced the same activities as control group in addition to 12 VR sessions of 20 minutes over a period of 6 weeks. RehaCom software was used to assess cognitive functions (attention and visual memory) pre and post intervention for all participants.Results: Both groups were similar at baseline regarding the age (p=0.985), IQ (p=0.788) and all pre-test key outcomes. Significant improvement was found when comparing the pre and post-test values of attention and visual memory in the study group; however this improvement was non-significant in the control group. Significant difference was found in the percentage of improvement when comparing both groups' post-test values; attention and visual memory improved by (95.67%) (p=0.0001) and (51.75%)(p=0.0001) respectively for the study group while both key outcomes were improved only by (22.33%)(p=0.056) for the control group.Conclusion: Fully-immersive VR games can improve the attention and visual memory of children with DS.