Effectiveness of Virtual Reality in Hand Therapy

Timothy Uhl9 enrolled

Overview

The purpose of this study is to determine if the use of Virtual Reality as an intervention for patients following specific hand injuries will positively affect patients with decreased hand function and reduce pain and improve outcomes. Participants will be recruited from 3 different clinics in central Kentucky.

Participants will participate in four sessions of therapy treatment over a 2-3 week time span of schedule therapy appointments during their active phase of rehabilitation for approximately 1-hour virtual reality (VR) training dosage which will be recorded. The specific virtual reality games within the Oculus Quest 2 VR system will be selected by the therapist providing interventions each session. In addition to the Virtual Reality intervention noted above, participants will participate in a pre and post-test outcome measure session (25-30 minutes) with a research team member. (See outcome measure section for more details).

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Distal Radius Fracture Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome Flexor Tendon Rupture

Interventions

Virtual Reality ExercisesOTHER

Hand Therapy Exercises utilizing Oculus Quest 2 VR system with augmented feedback for patient to perform active hand therapy. Specific interventions / games will be selected by the participants individual therapist.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 99 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Attending hand therapy for rehabilitation of an upper extremity injury with a diagnosis of distal radius fracture, complex regional pain syndrome or tendon ruptures 2. Must be in an active exercise phase of rehabilitation Exclusion Criteria: 1. Not in a phase in their rehabilitation in which they can perform active exercises 2. Having arm injury due to a neurological disorder (stroke, Multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, other) 3. Non-English speaking 4. Patient reporting a history of severe claustrophobia or motion sickness

Locations (1)

Commonwealth Hand and Physical Therapy

Georgetown, Kentucky, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Hand Function Measures - Box and Block Test

The patient is asked to grasp a single block out of one box and move the block into the other box. They must cross midline to drop the box into the other box. This is a timed test for 1 minute. The number of blocks moved are counted and then the test is repeated with the other hand. A 15 second trial practice is performed so the participant understands the test. The number of blocks move with each hand is recorded.

Time frame: 4 minutes

Hand Function Measures - Nine Hole Peg Test

Nine Hole Peg Test measures finger dexterity and motor function. The participants will take 9 pegs from a container and place into a board as quickly as possible and then return them back to the container. A practice trial of this assessment will also occur prior to the documented time trial.

Time frame: 8 minutes

Secondary Outcomes

Quick Disability of Arm Shoulder and Hand (QDASH)

Quick DASH (QDASH) subjective report measure is an 11-item questionnaire to indicate the level of disability a person is currently having given their injury. It is scored from 0-100 with 0 representing no disability and 100 indicating the have severe disability. A lower score is a better score on this outcome measure.

Time frame: 5 minutes

Visual Analog Scale

Self-Report Pain Measure on a 0 - 10 scale.

Time frame: 1 minute

Enjoyment Subscale of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory scale

7 items on a subjective questionnaire (7 point Likert scale) - completed post intervention only

Time frame: 7 minutes

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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