Rehabilitation behavior intention of upper extremity stroke patients by IMVT

Abstract

In recent years, studies have shown that mirror therapy can improve the rehabilitation effect of upper extremity stroke patients. On the other hand, with the advancement of virtual reality technology, relevant rehabilitation medical researchers have widely introduced virtual reality technology into the rehabilitation medical system. This pilot study investigates the effect of the integration of mirror therapy and virtual reality technology (IMVT) with somatosensory game elements on upper extremity stroke patients. Based on research ethics, patients with upper extremity stroke were first consulted about their willingness to participate in the experiment, and the experiment was carried out with the patients’ consents. In this preliminary study, a total of 38 upper limb stroke patients were willing to participate in this ethical research investigation. Thirty-eight patients included 21 males and 17 females, with an average age of 53.8 and 55.4, respectively, are shown a demonstration video, made by the physical health personnel, of how to operate the equipment integrating mirror therapy and virtual reality before participating the experiment. The upper limb stroke patients who agreed to participate in the experiment after browsing the video are given a questionnaire survey on the rehabilitation behavior intention of the patients. The questionnaire used in this research is based on the literature survey of extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology II(UTAUT2) proposed by Venkatesh et al. (2012), and the questionnaire items are selected through interviews with rehabilitation medical experts from accredited institutions. The content of the questionnaire included five exogenous variables, namely, "performance expectation", "effort expectation", "social influence", "hedonic motivation" and "game setting", one endogenous variable of "behavioral intention" as well as twenty indicators. The statistical tool PLS-smart was used to perform PLS-SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) analysis on the data. The analysis results found that "hedonic motivation" has a significant impact on "behavior intention" in the SEM model. According to patient interviews and SEM analysis, it can be inferred that the increase in content of hedonic motivation can improve patients’ rehabilitation behavior intentions. In contrast, since upper limb stroke patients still question this novel rehabilitation method, performance expectations, effort expectations, social influence, as well as, game setting, are insignificant in behavioral intention.