gms | German Medical Science

Background: Parkinson's disease is a progressive disease and is often managed by medication therapy and sometimes also deep brain stimulation. Physiotherapy can provide additional functional improvement of motor control of small and precise movements.

Aim: The study investigated the functional improvement of upper extremities in virtual pick and place tasks and the participants’ motivation.

Method: Virtual environment with 10 cubes developed in Unity3D was used in the study with 20 patients with Parkinson’s disease. The participants accomplished 10 consecutive sessions (each lasting 30 min) in two weeks. Their hand function was evaluated by kinematic analysis and clinical tests Box&Blocks test and Unified Parkinson’s disease scale (UPDRS) III. Additionally the participants filled an Intrinsic Motivation Inventory questionnaire after every session.

Results/findings: We found significant drop of pressure/tension and increase of competence in participants, but less changes in interest or effort. All participants demonstrated positive outcomes at both clinical tests and less tremor at the end of the sessions.

Discussion and conclusions: Our findings are in line with the published results and demonstrate that contemporary approach may influence on patient’s pressure or stress and increase competences. Therefore we may suggest that the amount of tremor has temporary decreased due to the less pressure and tension.