[Use of Virtual Reality Based on Daily Activities for Cognitive Rehabilitation After Stroke: A Systematic Review].

Abstract

Background: Virtual reality (VR) generates a virtual environment with which one can interact as if it were real. In Stroke, which represents one of the highest causes of cognitive impairment in Europe, the use of VR in cognitive rehabilitation has been studied through the performance of different types of tasks, which could have different impacts. For this reason, the objective of this study was to review the use of VR tasks based exclusively on daily activities for the cognitive rehabilitation of people with stroke over 18 years of age.

Methods: A search was carried out of the databases PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus, obtaining 531 articles that, after applying inclusion/exclusion criteria, were reduced to eight (six randomized clinical trials and two quasi-experimental studies).

Results: The number of positive results was higher than the number of negative results only in global cognitive function. In specific cognitive functions the number of positive results was lower than the negatives.

Conclusions: These results highlight the need to carry out more studies with larger samples to obtain robust results and conclusions. Furthermore, this study highlights the value of research in this topic due to the interesting lines of future research.