Home-Based Augmented Reality Gait-and-Balance Therapy in Parkinson Disease: An Examination of Exercise Intensity

Objectives to evaluate whether Strolll-an individually-tailored gamified augmented reality gait-and-balance therapy for people with Parkinson disease-meets intensity thresholds to qualify as aerobic exercise were to (1) quantify exercise intensity of a representative 30 active-minute Strolll gait-and-balance therapy session at home and (2) examine if Strolll exercise settings (type of gamified exercise and its difficulty level and duration) could influence exercise intensity.

Within-subject experimental design.

Home environment.

A convenience sample of fifteen individuals (N=15) with Parkinson disease (Hoehn & Yahr stages 1-3, 12 men and 3 women, 46-84y of age) familiar with Strolll exercises.

On separate days, participants completed a representative 30 active-minute gait-and-balance therapy session at home and performed 5 different gait-and-balance exercise types at various difficulty levels and durations.

Exercise intensity was expressed as percentage heart rate reserve and rate of perceived exertion.

The 30 active-minute gait-and-balance therapy session reached moderate-to-vigorous exercise intensity levels for 9 (based on heart rate reserve) and 14 (based on rate of perceived exertion) of the 15 participants. Exercise intensity varied over the 5 gamified exercise types. Varying the level and duration of exercise types had a smaller influence on exercise intensity.

Strolll, designed to target aspects of gait, balance, and fall risk, showed potential to be applied as a moderate-to-vigorous exercise intensity program (meeting moderate-to-vigorous intensity levels for most participants). Exercise settings to (further) influence exercise intensity levels of augmented reality exercises were identified. With the proper exercise settings prescribed, Strolll may also qualify as moderate-or-higher intensity aerobic exercise, creating opportunities for multimodal therapy facilitating multiple rehabilitation targets simultaneously in the future.