Background: The prevalence of hand injury cases in India from road traffic incidences is about 30% and the total number of hand injuries would go higher on adding the industrial injury cases. Several studies have provided preliminary descriptions of the benefits of virtual reality and video games in rehabilitation training. There are many studies showing beneficial utility of video games in rehabilitation and improvement of functional independence of the hand injury patients using high-cost video game such as Wii and others.
Aims and Objectives: This study aims to find the impact of low-cost video game therapy against the conventional therapy in improving the hand function in terms of range of motion, grip strengths, and functional independence.
Materials and Methods: Patients coming to occupational therapy unit with hand injury fulfilling inclusion-exclusion criteria and agreeing to participate in the study were randomly divided into two groups - conventional therapy group and video game group based on the computer-generated random allocation. The duration of therapy was same for the two groups. The readings for hand function in terms of range of motion, grip strengths, and functional independence were documented for both the groups before the treatment and after the treatment and were compared statistically for finding the difference if any.
Results: The findings of the study showed that both the groups had improved in terms of the hand function as in the range of motion, grip strengths, and functional independence at the end of treatment irrespective of the treatment arm they were in P < 0.001. Comparison between the two treatment arms revealed that there was no statistical difference between the improvements documented in the two groups and the improvements were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). However, the experimental group seemed to enjoy their treatment more than their counterparts as expressed in informal communications; therefore, we may conclude the gaming method to be more preferred method of the treatment for the condition.
Conclusion: We conclude that the video gaming method is as effective as that of the conventional method for improving the strengths, grip, range of motion, and functional independence in hand injury cases, but the video gaming being more interesting and involving, is deemed to be much more enjoyable by the patients compared to the conventional. Since the patients find it interesting, they look forward for more of the sessions. This is a positive motivation for the compliance of the patients for completing the treatment properly and getting maximum benefit of the therapy.
Key words: Occupational Therapy; Video Game; Hand Injury; Rehabilitation; Modified Joystick
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