The Effect of Leap Motion Controller Video Game-Based Therapy for Upper Limb Motor Function in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review

Abstract

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Upper limb motor impairments can impact and restrict the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The Leap Motion Controller (LMC) System has recently emerged as a low-cost option in the rehabilitation, particularly for upper limb motor function. However, to date, there has been no systematic review to investigate the effectiveness of the therapeutic use of LMC for upper-limb disorders in PD. OBJECTIVE: This review aimed to explore whether LMC technology is effective in improving upper-limb motor function in patients with PD.

METHODS: A systematic search was conducted on 15 June 2021 by using a variety of databases, including; CINAHL, AMED, MEDLINE, PEDro, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar. The reviews were purposely inclusive, since this area of research has only a limited number of controlled trial studies. Data was extracted from the literature findings. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the EPHPP.

RESULTS: Five articles with only one randomised controlled trial (RCT) were included. General improvements were reported either in LMC video game-based therapy alone or in combination with Oculus Rift CV1 head-mounted device (ORCHMD). Moreover, gross manual dexterity significantly improved in the more affected side, whereas grip strength, coordination and the speed of movement significantly improved in the affected and unaffected sides. Three articles were rated as weak in the global rating score, whereas one study was rated as moderate, and only one study was rated as strong.

CONCLUSIONS: The LMC video game-based therapy may be considered a useful and effective tool to improve upper limb motor function in patients with PD. Further research with more robust designs, such as RCTs, and with long term follow-up is needed to prove the efficacy of LMC for upper limbs in PD patients.