O efeito da realidade virtual no equilíbrio postural de usuários de um Centro de Atenção Psicossocial Álcool e Drogas

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a session of virtual reality games on the postural balance of users of a Center for Psychosocial Care Alcohol and Drugs. This is a prospective quantitative approach that aimed to evaluate patients who use a psychosocial care center in a city on the western border of Rio Grande do Sul. Individuals underwent cognitive performance assessment through the Mini Mental State Examination (used as inclusion criteria), anthropometric measures (body mass, height and waist circumference), postural balance (Timed Up and Go tests, Functional Reach Test and Berg Balance Scale), as well as heart rate by an application called Instant Heart Rate. A questionnaire was still used to identify sociodemographic variables. On the other hand, the information on diagnosis and drug therapy was collected from the medical records provided by the service. After the evaluation, the users were submitted to a single session of 30 minutes of games, to evaluate the acute effect of virtual reality in these users, in moments before and after intervention, with the virtual intervention instrument - Microsoft Kinect Xbox 360TM. The selected games were: Nike Kinect Training and Kinect Adventures. Ten subjects of both sexes with mean age of 49.7±12.4 years participated in the study. Significant post-intervention values were observed in the Functional Reach, Time Up and Go, and heart rate test. It was chosen to correlate the Berg Scale with the average obtained in the Virtual Reality games, pointing to values with significant difference (p=0.05). It can be concluded that the Virtual Reality games session proved to be important in improving the postural balance of individuals with a history of chemical dependence.