Comparison between clinical and instrumental assessing using Wii Fit system on balance control

Abstract

The use of low-cost, commercial gaming systems for rehabilitation has received substantial attention in the last few years. Systems such as the Nintendo Wii encourage players to use natural actions to play games. The Wii systems has been integrated into rehabilitation programs and has gained the support of occupational therapists because it is easy to use and has a wide variety of games available. In this study we compare the benefits on balance control of Wii Fit use with traditional rehabilitation therapy in 15 patients (study group) with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) and in 15 normal subjects (control group). The performance on balance control of each subject was evaluate by the Berg Balance Scale(BBS) in order to establish the baseline. Similar measurement was repeated at the discharge. Moreover, we assess the improvements induced by the use of Wii Fit platform with quantitative posturographic analysis by means of parameters and objective metric indexes such as COP Area and Sway Path. Comparison between two groups was performed by means of paired t test and Mann Whitney test. Both groups showed improvements in the BBS and in the posturographic indexes at the discharge. Very interesting is to note that the wii fit training appears to improve much more the balance of the study group compared to the study group.