Finding Effective Adjustment Levels for Upper Limb Exergames: Focus Group Study With Children With Physical...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric rehabilitation
• Assistive technology
• Virtual reality in healthcare

Background:

• The Blexer system, featuring a database and web interface, hosts adaptive virtual reality exergames for children with motor disabilities.
• Utilizing Kinect motion capture, the system offers configurable exercises and remote monitoring to supplement traditional physical therapy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the motor benefits of a video exergame in children with physical disabilities.
• To assess the impact of correctly setting game difficulty parameters on therapeutic outcomes.

Main Methods:

• An observational case study involving 6 children with diverse physical disabilities.
• The study employed a configurable virtual reality exergame with adjustable difficulty for upper limb and trunk exercises.
• Outcomes were measured using the Box and Block Test and the Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test.

Main Results:

• Children with cerebral palsy and obstetric brachial plexus palsy showed varying improvements based on disability severity and game parameter adjustments.
• Less affected children improved in the Box and Block Test (+11 blocks) with higher parameter settings (70-100%).
• More affected children showed greater improvement in the Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test (+90 seconds) with adjusted parameters.

Conclusions:

• Difficulty parameter adjustment is crucial for optimizing exergame effectiveness in pediatric motor rehabilitation.
• Setting exergames to easy or medium difficulty levels encourages longer playtime, enhances engagement, and improves functional outcomes.
• Personalized difficulty settings in virtual reality exergames can lead to significant improvements in mobility for children with motor impairments.