Application of Virtual Reality Rehabilitation System for the assessment of postural control while standing in typical children and peers with neurodevelopmental disorders.

BACKGROUND

The assessment of postural control in children is crucial, due to its central role in their overall development. However, a tool that objectively quantifies the difference in postural control between typical and atypical developing children is lacking. In this study, we introduce a new technology (Virtual Reality Rehabilitation System, VRRS) for assessing children's postural control.

RESEARCH QUESTION: Is this new assessment tool capable to highlight the differences between typical development (TD) and atypical development, (children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and Cerebral Palsy (CP))?

METHODS

30 TD children, 20 children with DCD and 27 with CP (mean ages: 6.29 ± 2.74; 9.11 ± 2.65; 10.07 ± 3.89 years) were tested with the VRRS Tablet with stabilometric balance platform. Postural parameters, related to the movements of the Centre of Pressure (COP) were collected. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) followed by a post-hoc analysis has been carried out. Moreover, the influence of age, sex, clinical scores and sub-diagnoses on parameters of interest has been explored.

RESULTS

COP distance and sway area in the three groups (TD: 7.35 ± 2.32 mm, 101.70 ± 64.16 mm2/s; DCD: 12.05 ± 8.19 mm, 188.46 ± 231.23 mm2/s; CP: 13.25 ± 8.09 mm, 239.13 ± 313.83 mm2/s, respectively) and all other VRRS parameters were significantly different among the three groups (p-values between 0.028 and <0.001). The TD group showed significantly different values than CP (p from < 0.03 to < 0.001) but not than DCD (p = n.s.). Clinical scores showed to correlate with the COP distances and Root Mean Square distances in all subgroups (p < 0.05). For age, only an influence was found within the TD group (p < 0.01); sex did not show to affect the outcomes (p = n.s.).

SIGNIFICANCE: An objective tool for quantitative measurement of postural control in childhood is needed. Our proposed VRRS tool could support the traditional assessment tests, highlighting differences between typical and atypical development.