Effects of Immersive Virtual Reality on Balance, Mobility, and Fatigue in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

October 11, 2018 updated by: Cagla Ozkul, Gazi University

Gait disorder, imbalance, and fatigue are the most frequently reported complaints in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a chronic neurodegenerative disease. The first symptoms in patients with MS are emerging in the age range 20-50 and these patients need long-term rehabilitation. The virtual reality applications developed for these problems which affect the quality of life negatively and cause disability in the following periods may be a good alternative for conventional rehabilitation applications. In this long-term where motivation is important, virtual reality applications in different environments provide patients with the opportunity to do many different tasks amused. In recent years, the vividness has been increased by the 3D virtual reality headsets.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of immersive virtual reality on the balance, mobility, and fatigue in patients with MS.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

The study was designed as a prospective, randomized controlled study. The patients will be randomly assigned to three groups, the "immersive virtual reality (IVR)" group, the "dynamic balance training (DBT)" group and the control group. The trainings will be twice a week for 8 weeks. In the IVR group, firstly 30 minutes of Pilates training, 10 minutes of rest and then 20 minutes of virtual reality will be applied. In the DBT group, 20 minutes of dynamic balance exercises will be applied after Pilates training. In dynamic balance training, exercises will consist of similar movements required by virtual reality games. The control group will be taught relaxation exercises and will be asked to perform the exercises 2 times for 8 weeks at home.

Statistical analyses will be performed using the SPSS software version 15 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL, USA). The pre-training and post-training measurements of groups will be compared with the Wilcoxon Test. The significance level was set at p< 0.05.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

39

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Ankara, Turkey
        • Gazi University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants who are ambulatory and volunteer to participate to the study, in a stable phase of the disease, without relapses in the last 1 month, with an EDSS between 0-5,5.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants who have orthopedic, vision, hearing, or perception problems
  • Patients who have any cardiovascular or pulmonary disease in which exercise is contraindicated

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Virtual reality group
In virtual reality group, 30 minutes of Pilates training, 10 minutes of rest and then 20 minutes of virtual reality will be applied.
Immersive virtual reality training protocol consisted of "Football" and "Guillotine" games.
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Dynamic Balance Training
In the "Dynamic Balance Training" group, 20 minutes of dynamic balance exercises will be applied after Pilates training.
Dynamic balance training protocol consisted of holding the ball and running away from the ball with a physiotherapist.
NO_INTERVENTION: Control group
The control group will be taught relaxation exercises and will be asked to perform the exercises at home.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Berg Balance Scale
Time Frame: Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed
Berg Balance Scale (BBS) rates performance from 0 (cannot perform) to 4 (normal performance) on 14 items. It has shown to be a valid measure with high inter and interrater reliability for people with MS.
Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Timed Up and Go Test
Time Frame: Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed
Timed up and go test measures the time taken in seconds to arise from a standard chair, walk 3 m, turn through 180 degrees, walk back, and sit down again.
Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed
Modified Sensory Organization Test
Time Frame: Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed
The Modified Sensory Organization Test, which is performed using computerized posturography, measures postural sway in response to 4 different sensory conditions is measured using a force platform.
Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed
One-leg standing duration
Time Frame: Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed
One-leg standing duration is measured using chronometer. The time is started when participants lifted a foot from the ground to knee level. The test is terminated when the position disappears or 180 seconds passed.
Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed
Activities-specific Balance Confidence
Time Frame: Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed
Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) is a scale in which the patient rates his perceived level of confidence while performing 16 daily living activities.
Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed
Fatigue Severity Scale
Time Frame: Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed
In the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), participants are asked to rate their fatigue level between 1 and 7 in the 9 statements (including motivation, exercise, physical functioning, carrying out duties, and interfering with work, family, or social life) during the last week.
Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed
Fatigue Impact Scale
Time Frame: Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed
Fatigue impact scale consists of forty questions and evaluates the effects of fatigue on the 3 dimensions of daily life activities; cognitive function, physical function and psychosocial function. Each question is graded between 0 (no problem) and 4 (maximum problem).
Change between baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention will be assessed

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (ACTUAL)

April 9, 2018

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

September 1, 2018

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

September 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 10, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 16, 2018

First Posted (ACTUAL)

April 18, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

October 12, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 11, 2018

Last Verified

October 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

There is not a plan to make IPD available.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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