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  • Effects of Virtual Reality-...
    Rodríguez-Hernández, Marta; Criado-Álvarez, Juan-José; Corregidor-Sánchez, Ana-Isabel; Martín-Conty, José L; Mohedano-Moriano, Alicia; Polonio-López, Begoña

    International journal of environmental research and public health, 03/2021, Volume: 18, Issue: 6
    Journal Article

    To evaluate the influence of conventional rehabilitation combined with virtual reality on improving quality of life related to post-stroke health. Randomized controlled trial. Rehabilitation and neurology departments of a general hospital (Talavera de la Reina, Spain). A total of 43 participants with subacute stroke. Participants were randomized into experimental group (conventional treatment + virtual reality) and control (conventional treatment). Health-related quality of life as measured by the EuroQoL-5 dimensions instrument (EQ-5D-5L) and EuroQoL visual analog scale (EQ-VAS). A total of 23 patients in the experimental group (62.6 ± 13.5 years) and 20 in the control (63.6 ± 12.2 years) completed the study. In the experimental group, EQ-VAS score was 29.1 ± 12.8 at baseline, 86.5 ± 7.1 post-intervention, and 78.3 ± 10.3 at the three-month follow-up. The control group obtained scores of 25.5 ± 5.1, 57.0 ± 4.7, and 58.5 ± 5.9, respectively. We identified significant differences at the post-intervention and follow-up timepoints ( = 0.000) and a partial η of 0.647. In EQ-5D-5L, the severity of issues decreased after intervention in the experimental group, while pain and anxiety dimensions increased between post-intervention and follow-up. The conventional rehabilitative approach combined with virtual reality appears to be more effective for improving the perceived health-related quality of life in stroke survivors.