Video game-based exercises for balance rehabilitation: a single-subject design.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate whether coupling foot center of pressure (COP)-controlled video games to standing balance exercises will improve dynamic balance control and to determine whether the motivational and challenging aspects of the video games would increase a subject's desire to perform the exercises and complete the rehabilitation process.

DESIGN

Case study, pre- and postexercise.

SETTING

University hospital outpatient clinic.

PARTICIPANTS

A young adult with excised cerebellar tumor, 1 middle-aged adult with single right cerebrovascular accident, and 1 middle-aged adult with traumatic brain injury.

INTERVENTION: A COP-controlled, video game-based exercise system.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The following were calculated during 12 different tasks: the number of falls, range of COP excursion, and COP path length.

RESULTS

Postexercise, subjects exhibited a lower fall count, decreased COP excursion limits for some tasks, increased practice volume, and increased attention span during training.

CONCLUSIONS

The COP-controlled video game-based exercise regime motivated subjects to increase their practice volume and attention span during training. This in turn improved subjects' dynamic balance control.