Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Learning promotion of physiotherapy in neurological diseases: Design and application of a virtual reality‑based game

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Leila Shahmoradi 1
. Sohrab Almasi 2
. Nastaran Ghotbi 3
. Marsa Gholamzadeh 4

1 1 Halal Research Center of IRI, FDA Department of Health Information Management, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences

2 Department of Health Information Management, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

3 Department of Physiotherapy, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

4 Department of Health Information Management, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The virtual reality‑based (VR) game can be considered as a new approach to
education and to enhance the skills of health‑care students.
AIMS: The purposes of this research were to design a VR game and to apply it to teach physiotherapy
in neurological diseases.
METHODOLOGY: In this study, at first, a VR game was designed for upper limb rehabilitation in
brain‑injured patients based on the literature and the opinions of physiotherapy experts and game
designers. Then, the designed game was used for teaching physiotherapy in neurological diseases.
Thereafter, the opinions of 31 undergraduate students about the teaching session were evaluated
by two anonymous questionnaires. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics through
SPSS (version 19).
RESULTS: The VR game developed under expert supervision. The evaluation showed that the
median score for students’ perception of learning was 3.11. The median scores of questions related
to the “facilitating level of virtual reality” and “student satisfaction” were 8.66 and 9, respectively. The
analysis of students’ responses to open‑ended questions highlighted the therapeutic aspect of the
game compared to its educational aspect.
CONCLUSIONS: Application of VR games in education can enhance the students’ perception
of learning. Furthermore, it can provide a better understanding of physiotherapy in patients with
neurological diseases as well as the satisfaction of students. However, the survey indicated that the
good results of this teaching method are due to the use of VR for guiding the patient’s movements.

Keywords

Education
neurological rehabilitation
physical therapy
teaching
video games
virtual reality
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 10, Issue 9
September 2020
Pages 1-8

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