Video games may aid stroke recovery

What do we know already?

Strokes are a leading cause of disability in the UK. They happen when the blood supply to part of your brain is cut off. This can cause brain damage, resulting in movement problems, impaired speech, and other difficulties.

However, the brain has a remarkable ability to recover from injury. Other parts of your brain can take over from the damaged cells. Physiotherapy can aid in this process, with research suggesting that the best 'brain remodelling' therapies are repetitive, challenging, task-specific, motivating, and novel.

Meeting all five criteria is a therapy that uses video games to help people regain arm strength and movement after a stroke. Studies have looked at a variety of games, many with devices that track movement (for example, Nintendo's Wii), and some that immerse players in a virtual environment. However, these studies have been quite small, with most involving fewer than 25 people. Researchers have now pooled the results of the best of these studies to see what conclusions they might draw.

What does the new study say?

People had improvements in arm strength and were able to use their arms better after video game therapy, the researchers found.

The researchers looked at 12 studies in total, which included 195 people who'd had a mild or moderate stroke. In most of the studies, people played video games for 20 to 30 hours over four to six weeks of therapy.

Seven of the trials were observational studies, which monitored people having video game therapy to see whether they had improvements over time. In these studies, the researchers found an average improvement of 14.7 percent in arm strength and 20 percent in arm function (people's ability to do standard tasks).

The remaining five studies were randomised controlled trials, which are a more reliable type of research. The researchers found that people who played the games were nearly five times more likely to have improved arm strength, compared with those who had standard physiotherapy. However, they found no difference between the groups in arm function.

How reliable is the research?

This was a well-conducted review of studies and it should provide an accurate snapshot of what the research tells us so far about video game therapy.

However, its findings are based on very small studies, with fewer than 200 people in total. And most of these studies were observational trials, which are less reliable. So, we need more good-quality research to know for certain that video game therapy can improve arm strength and function after a stroke.

Studies will also need to explore what types of games work best and whether this therapy might also help people who've had more severe strokes.

Where does the study come from?

The study was done by researchers based at universities in Toronto and Montreal. It was published in Stroke, a journal owned by the American Heart Association.

What does this mean for me?

Recovering from a stroke can be a long and intensive process, and it's not uncommon for people to get bored or discouraged with physiotherapy. If you've had a stroke affecting your arm, video games might provide a fun and effective way to improve your strength and movement. However, we need more research to confirm this.

What should I do now?

Video games are still an experimental treatment for stroke patients, but you might ask your doctor or physiotherapist whether these games could be part of your treatment.

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