Effect of Virtual Reality Therapy on Balance and Walking Speed in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Children with spastic cerebral palsy have some limitations in their functional mobility and also problems with their balance and postural control. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of virtual reality training on balance and walking speed in children with spastic Cerebral Palsy (CP). Methods: This is a single blinded randomized controlled trial. According to the preliminary data obtained from the pilot study, the total sample size was determined, and 30 children with spastic CP (5–12 years) were randomly allocated into the intervention (n: 15) and control groups (n: 15). Both groups received the treatment with conventional occupational therapy for 30-min sessions three times per week. The intervention group also received supervised therapy using Xbox Kinect games in each session for 6 weeks. Balance by TUG test and Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS), and walking speed by 10-meter walking test were measured in pretest, post-test, and follow-up. Additionally, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the interaction effects of time and group. Results: Thirty children with spastic CP (mean age: 8.5 years; Gross Motor Function Classification System: level I, 23.3%, level II,) were analyzed. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups only in the PBS score (p=0.013). Additionally, the interaction effect of time and group was significant for both TUG and PBS scores (p<0.001). Conclusion: Using V.R therapy along with routine occupational therapy can be effective for improving balance and walking speed in children with spastic CP.