Key result
Incorporating virtual reality into pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD patients improved FEV1 and showed marginally non-significant improvement in 6MWT.
Why the study?
The inclusion of virtual reality games had been proposed as an alternative or complement to traditional pulmonary rehabilitation programs, but its effectiveness in patients with COPD needed investigation.
Does incorporating virtual reality in pulmonary rehabilitation improve functional capacity and lung function in patients with COPD?
Meta-Analysis
Does incorporating virtual reality in pulmonary rehabilitation improve functional capacity and lung function in patients with COPD?
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Incorporating virtual reality into pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD patients significantly improves FEV1 and may improve exercise capacity, suggesting it is a useful complementary therapy.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is characterized by irreversible airflow limitation. Patient participation in Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) programs has a beneficial effect on disease management, improving patients' functional capacity and quality of life. As an alternative to traditional programs or as a complementary activity, the inclusion of virtual reality (VR) games is proposed. The aim of this research study was to investigate the effectiveness of incorporating VR in the pulmonary rehabilitation program of patients with COPD. A systematic literature search was performed for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the electronic databases Google Scholar, PubMed, and Pedro from January 2014 to March 2022. The search involved screening for studies examining the effectiveness of enhancing PR with VR. The PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database) scale was chosen as the tool to assess the quality of studies. A meta-analysis was performed where possible. Six studies were included in this systematic review. The PEDro scale showed five studies of good methodological quality and one of fair quality. The variables examined were: aerobic capacity for exercise, lung function, anxiety and depression, with non-significant improvement for the MRC Dyspnea scale, marginally non-significant improvement regarding 6MWT (p = 0.05) and significant improvement for FEV1 (p < 0.05). There was variability noted in the VR applications and the proposed rehabilitation that the experimental groups followed. The application of VR is recommended for COPD patients, in combination with conventional PR. VR was found to be effective in increasing therapeutic effect and should be considered as a mean of increasing accessibility to PR. Therefore, further research, as well as additional RCTs regarding the effectiveness of VR in patients with COPD, seems necessary.
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Patsaki et al. (2023) conducted a meta-analysis in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Virtual reality (VR) vs. Conventional pulmonary rehabilitation was evaluated on FEV1, 6MWT, and MRC Dyspnea scale (p=<0.05 for FEV1; 0.05 for 6MWT). Incorporating virtual reality into pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD patients improved FEV1 and showed marginally non-significant improvement in 6MWT.
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