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Rate ePoster

Neurological Rehabilitation

The Use of Video Games with Physical Therapy to Decrease Fall Risk in Stroke Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials

Saturday, October 25, 2025
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM MT
Location: Original Research Theater

    Poster Presenter(s)

  • Alec Birnbaum, Other (he/him/his)

    Medical Student
    Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine/Rowan University
    Voorhees Township, New Jersey

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Yashas Sattur, Other

    Medical Student
    Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine
    Stratford, New Jersey

  • AP

    Akash M. Patel, Other

    Medical Student
    Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine/Rowan University
    Monroe, New Jersey

  • AR

    Altamash Raja, DO

    Assistant Professor
    Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine
    West Deptford, New Jersey

Disclosure(s):
Alec Birnbaum, Other: No financial relationships to disclose
Yashas Sattur, Other: No financial relationships to disclose
Background and/or Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of video games in conjunction with physical therapy or standard rehabilitation in decreasing fall risk in post-stroke patients.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analyses following PRISMA 2020 guidelines (PROSPERO: CRD420250652024).

Setting : Physical therapy clinics.

Participants : 253 post-stroke participants.

Interventions: The intervention group received video game therapy in addition to physical therapy. The control group received physical therapy or standard treatment alone.

Main Outcome Measures: Timed Up and Go test (TUG) and Berg Balance Scale (BBS).

Results: 9 studies were included for statistical analysis of TUG and BBS. An analysis of 7 studies measuring TUG demonstrated a large effect size in decreasing TUG times (Cohen’s d = -0.87; 95% CI: -1.55, -0.18; p=0.01); however, there was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups (p=0.26). An analysis of 5 studies measuring BBS demonstrated a large effect size in improving BBS scores (Cohen’s d = 1.31; 95% CI: 0.62, 2.01; p=0.01). Subgroup analysis of intervention and control groups measuring BBS scores revealed a significant difference between them, favoring the interventional group (p=0.01).

Conclusions: Video games and physical therapy together demonstrated significant improvement in decreasing fall risk measures. Compared to control, video games and physical therapy were only significant for increasing BBS scores. Decreased fall risk was seen in all video game modalities, including VR and non-VR-based video games.