Comparison of Vestibular Rehabilitation With Virtual Reality on Dizziness, Balance and Gait in Subacute Stroke Patients

Stroke is defined as rapidly developing clinical signs of focal disturbance of cerebral function that lasts more than 24 hours or leading to death. It arises from vascular causes such as cerebral infarction, intracerebral hemorrhage or subarachnoid hemorrhage. Stroke refers to any damage to the brain due to abnormality of blood supply. Stroke patients have difficulty in maintaining balance and postural control because they have asymmetric posture, abnormal body imbalance and difficulty in weight transfer.

Balance is required to maintain posture, to respond to voluntary movements and react to external perturbations. Because of the balance disorders, compensatory movements occur in stroke patients which causes them to consume more energy compared to healthy subjects and causes the development of inefficient walking pattern.

Gait function determines the degree of physical ability of post-stroke patients and their ability to perform independent mobility during activities of daily living (ADL). Stroke patients acquire compensatory abnormal walking pattern as a result of muscular weakness and inability to maintain balance.

Virtual reality rehabilitation systems provide direct sensorial feedback to which a person can respond and interact with environment. VR environments are commonly used in treating, training, and rehabilitation of stroke patients. In virtual reality rehabilitation, the patient moves and performs predetermined tasks as if he is performing the actions in reality.

According to a study conducted by Hyung Young Lee, Virtual reality-based training has been used as therapeutic intervention for functional recovery of stroke patients. It provides a variety of environments based on the requirements of patients that can be selected for recovery.