Cell Phones Rehab Games!

Paired Groups

Motor performance of individuals with cerebral palsy in a virtual game using a mobile phone

de Paula JN, de Mello Monteiro CB, da Silva TD, Capelini CM, de Menezes LDC, Massetti T, Tonks J, Watson S & Nicolai Ré AH

Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2017 Nov 1:1-5.

doi: 10.1080/17483107.2017.1392620. [Epub ahead of print]

Link to abstract: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29092683

This seems a great combination for children with cerebral palsy: Game play encouraged on cell phones for motor improvement.

What? For children with cerebral palsy, does game play on a mobile phone result in motor improvement compared to a control group?

How? Participants with cerebral palsy (GMFCS level I and MACS level I) played 25 repetitions of a maze game on cell phones. They were sex- and age-matched with normally developing children. Then they were introduced to a new maze task for 5 trials.

Findings: "We found a significant improvement in the movement time between the first (trial) attempt relative to the last (trial) attempt for the individuals with CP". They did not retain this speed improvement in the new maze task.

We can all play together

Repeated Measures

Ability-based Balancing using the GMFM in Exergaming for Youth with Cerebral Palsy

MacIntosh A, Switzer L, Hwang S, Schneider A L J, Clarke D, Graham T C N & Fehlings D

Games for Health Journal 6 (6), 2017

DOI: 10.1089/g4h.2017.0053

Link to abstract ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29016199

What? Among differently-abled players with cerebral palsy, can "GMFM Ability-based balancing" result in enjoyable fair play for all?

How? Eight 8-14 year olds with GMFM ability level II and III scores played video games in dyads using three different algorithms to even game play.Each dyad went head-to-head three times, using one of three algorithms to balance the competition between them. The three algorithms were a GMFM ability balance, an idealized balance and a control algorithm. The players were asked if the gameplay was fun and fair.

Findings: GMFM Ability-based balancing resulted in the best fit of play that was both ability-balanced and enjoyable.