Serious Games in Neurorehabilitation: A Systematic Review of Recent Evidence

ABSTRACT

Serious Games (SG) have been conceptualized for various target groups (particularly stroke) in neurorehabilitation. SG claim to be effective at two levels: achieving the serious goal (effectiveness) and eliciting game experience (attractiveness). A systematic review of recent studies (4 RCT and 30 further studies) retrieved from four data bases (PubMed, Google scholar, IEEE, and ACM) was performed addressing two main issues: (1) applied game technologies and (2) the effectiveness and attractiveness of rehabilitation games. The study reveals heterogeneous features of the studies concerning game technology, target group, duration and volume of intervention, and outcome variables. The outcomes concerning functional improvement and attitude are sparsely documented and show a positive tendency. However, the evidence is not yet convincing. In the future, more studies with improved methods are needed to substantiate the evidence.

References

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Index Terms

• Applied computing

  • Life and medical sciences

    • Consumer health

    • Health informatics