The use of virtual reality in treatment of gait disorders in patients with Parkinson's disease

Objective: to evaluate the possibility of correcting gait disorders and postural instability in patients with Parkinson's disease using virtual reality method. Material and Methods. 20 patients with Parkinson's disease underwent a 10-day course on a walking simulator with a virtual reality unit. The UPDRS scale and the Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FoG-Q) were used to assess motor disorders. Results. Training on the simulator with the VR block led to a decrease in the severity of gait disorders by 6.0% in the off state (from 55.13 to 51.81 grades in UPDRS) and by 5.6% in the on state (from 43.69 to 41.25 grades), primarily due to the effect on freezing of gait and postural instability. In addition, there was an improvement in assessment of their own state in patients according to the FoG-Q (from 9.44 to 7.38 grades). In the control group, no statistically significant dynamics was observed. Conclusion. Techniques using virtual reality can be used as an additional method for correcting of motor disorders in patients with Parkinson's disease.