Medical Student Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine Provo, Utah
Background and/or Objectives: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects motor function, balance, and cognition. This study explores the effects of a 6-week VR dual-task program on motor function and balance in individuals with mild to moderate PD, presenting motion capture data from five participants.
Design: 12-week crossover intervention randomized participants into two groups: Group A received the VR intervention for six weeks, followed by six weeks without, while Group B followed the opposite schedule. Motor function was assessed at weeks 0, 6, and 12.
Setting : The VR experience and data collection was completed in the same unchanged space each week to ensure consistency.
Participants : Participants were individuals under the age of 65, clinically diagnosed with mild-to-moderate PD.
Interventions: 30-minute VR sessions playing Beat Saber®, performed three times per week.
Main Outcome Measures: APDM® captured a 10-Meter-Walk Test and measured gait cycle duration and speed, while a Timed-Up-And-Go Test measured task duration, sit-to-stand time, and turning velocity. DARI® captured shoulder, trunk, squat, and lunge movements, including range-of-motion and mobility across joints. Current analysis includes week 0 and week 6 data for Group A. Statistical comparisons used paired t-tests and Wilcoxon sign-rank tests, with significance set at p < 0.05.
Results: A significant improvement was found in TUG turning velocity (p=0.038, ES=0.68), indicating enhanced dynamic balance. Right shoulder extension (p=0.0804, ES=1.041) and left hip mobility (p=0.0826, ES=1.030) approached significance, suggesting potential movement adaptations. All other measurements showed no statistically significant changes.
Conclusions: Preliminary findings suggest that a 6-week VR dual-task intervention may improve dynamic balance in PD, as shown by increased turning velocity in the TUG test. Turning velocity is crucial, as impairments are linked to postural instability and fall risk. While other results were not statistically significant, moderate to large effect sizes suggest potential clinical relevance, warranting further investigation with a larger sample size in this ongoing study.
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