The effects of virtual soccer game on balance, gait function, and kick speed in chronic incomplete spinal cord injury: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Study design: Participant-blinded comparative pre-post randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of virtual soccer game on balance, gait function, and kick speed in individuals with spinal cord injuries.

Setting: Forty participants with incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) were included.

Methods: The participants were randomized into either an experimental group (EG) or a control group for treatment 3 days/week over 4 weeks. The clinical outcomes included the results of the chair stand test (CST), timed up-and-go (TUG) test, and 10 m walking test (10MWT). The virtual reality (VR) content outcome measure was kick speed.

Results: The independent t-test results indicated that the participants in the EG exhibited superior performances in the CST, TUG test, 10MWT, and kick speed test (all P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Our results provide novel, promising clinical evidence that VR rehabilitation improves both dynamic and static balance and reduces the risk of falls in patients with incomplete SCI of Asia impairment scale grades C-D.