Original Article
The Use of Nintendo Wii in the Rehabilitation of Poststroke Patients: A Systematic Review

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2015.06.010Get rights and content

Background

To evaluate the effectiveness of the video game console Nintendo Wii (NW) in motor function, balance, and functional independence in the treatment of poststroke patients and to identify which games are commonly used in therapy.

Methods

Randomized controlled trials were researched in MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, PEDro, CAPES Periodic, BIREME, and LILACS databases, covering publications up to March 31, 2014. The assessment of methodological quality was performed using the PEDro Scale as reference.

Results

The 5 studies included for analysis showed that NW can provide an improvement of motor function of the individual, but the data are unclear when it comes to the balance and functional independence.

Conclusions

It was concluded that there is little evidence to ensure the effectiveness and support the inclusion of the treatment with NW in patients with sequelae caused by a stroke; however, some of the studies analyzed suggest that NW can provide improvement in motor function.

Section snippets

Method

This systematic review followed PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) protocol guidelines.

The electronic survey was conducted from January to March 2014 using the following databases: Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE/PubMed), Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL CCTR/Cochrane Library), Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), CAPES Periodic, Regional Library of Medicine (BIREME), Latin American and Caribbean

Results

A total of 319 papers were identified using the strategy applied in electronic databases survey. After the reading of the titles and abstracts, which was performed by 2 reviewers independently, 305 articles were excluded for not having relation with the subject studied. The reviewers in common selected 12 potentially relevant articles, and in a consensus meeting, 2 separate articles were included, totalizing 14 articles. From the 14 studies selected, 5 met the inclusion criteria after full

Discussion

This systematic review has shown that there is insufficient evidence to ensure the effectiveness and support the inclusion of the treatment with NW in patients with sequelae caused by a stroke. However, the results of some studies in this review suggest that the treatment with NW can provide improvements in motor function and therefore be an adjuvant therapy for motor rehabilitation. However, the data are still unclear to assure its efficiency in balance and functional independence.

In this

Conclusion

Faced with the systematic review performed, it is possible to conclude that there is little evidence to reach generalized conclusions about the efficacy of NW in this population. However, some of the studies analyzed here suggest that NW can provide improvement in motor function. In this sense, more RCTs investigating the use of NW as a therapeutic resource are needed.

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    The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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