Fully Immersive Virtual Reality Training for Cognitive Functions of Children with Down Syndrome | ||||
International Journal of Physical Therapy - AlSalam University | ||||
Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 03 April 2025 PDF (458.54 K) | ||||
Document Type: Original Article | ||||
DOI: 10.21608/ijtau.2025.372631.1011 | ||||
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Author | ||||
Ayman Elboraey ![]() | ||||
Pediatric department, faculty of physical therapy, cairo university, cairo, Egypt | ||||
Abstract | ||||
Background: Children with Down syndrome (DS) have overall cognitive and adaptive functioningimpairments.Specific cognitive domains are mainly affected such as attention and visual memory. Immersive technologies suchas virtual reality (VR) hold great potential in delivering enjoyable and therapeutic experiences.Objective:To identify the effect offully immersive VR technology on cognitive functions of children with DS.Methods: Thirtyboys with DS aged from 7 to 10 years who attended a special school, were selected and assignedinto 2 equal groups; the control grouppracticed their regular activities of school and daily living (received notreatment); and the study group practiced the same activities as control group in addition to 12 VR sessions of 20minutes over a period of 6 weeks. RehaCom software was used to assesscognitive functions (attention and visualmemory) pre and post intervention for all participants.Results: Both groups were similar at baseline, comparison of post-test values between the control and study groupsrevealed significant difference for attention (p=0.0001) and visual memory (p=0.0001) in favourof the study groupwith percentage of improvement (95.67%) and (51.75%) respectively.Conclusion: Fully immersive VR gamescan improve the attention and visual memory of children with DS;therefore, it can serve as a valuable intervention for their cognitive rehabilitation. | ||||
Keywords | ||||
Attention; Cognitive Rehabilitation; Down Syndrome; Technology; Virtual Reality | ||||
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