Stroke Literacy in a South Brazilian City: A Community Based Survey.

BACKGROUND: This community-based and cross-sectional study was performed in a Brazilian city and aimed to evaluate stroke literacy. METHODS: A stroke knowledge survey was administered to passersby of a public square from December 2015 to October 2016, in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. Convenience sampling was performed. RESULTS: A total of 633 respondents completed the survey. Of the respondents, 33% knew the meaning of "AVC"; 29.5% incorrectly localized stroke in the heart. Any warning sign of stroke (open-ended question) could not be remembered by 50.7% of the respondents; individuals with a higher level of schooling (>7 years of education) and those who localized stroke in the brain were more likely to call an emergency in the case of a stroke (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.040, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.004-1.078 for years of schooling; adjusted OR 1.542, 95% CI 1.102-2.156 for replying "yes" to brain as the organ affected in stroke). CONCLUSIONS: Brazilian public knowledge about stroke is still scarce, even in a population with levels of formal education above the national average or in a city where annual promotion of Stroke Awareness Campaigns have taken place for almost a decade. Thus, it might be necessary to design different informative strategies targeted to our study's population to improve stroke campaigns in Brazil. In Brazil, increasing awareness of stroke focused on stroke prevention and recognition of its warning signs should be a national priority in public health as the access to stroke treatment remains limited.

Serious Games for Parkinson's Disease Fine Motor Skills Rehabilitation Using Natural Interfaces.

Parkinson's Disease rehabilitation can be long and boring being difficult to maintain patient engagement on therapy programs. Novel technologies are allowing computer games to be played throught natural interfaces. This paper presents the development and assessment of a system of serious games for fine motor skills rehabilitation using natural interfaces. The games were assessed throught a questionnaire that evaluated the game experience through seven components: immersion, flow, competence, tension, challenge and positive and negative affect. In addition, a conceptual framework for development of serious games for fine motor skills rehabilitation was proposed. The results from the quantitative questionnaire suggested that the player experience was positive on all components assessed. Also, player experience between the three games was statistically the same, implying that the games can be used with consistency in a physical therapy rehabilitation program.

A Serious Game for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rehabilitation: Software Development Aspects and Game Engagement Assessment.

This work presents the steps for developing a serious game that allows the interaction through natural gestures, whose main purpose is to contribute to the treatment of individuals who have suffered an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). In addition to the serious game development process, the users' gaming experience were performed. Through the evaluation assessment, positive results were obtained in relation to various aspects of the game engagement, proving the playful factor of this activity.

A Serious Game for Upper Limb Stroke Rehabilitation Using Biofeedback and Mirror-Neurons Based Training.

Upper limb stroke rehabilitation requires early, intensive and repetitive practice to be effective. Consequently, it is often difficult to keep patients committed to their rehabilitation regimen. In addition to direct measures of rehabilitation achievable through targeted assessments, other factors can indirectly lead to rehabilitation. Current levels of integration between commodity graphics software, hardware, and body-tracking devices have provided a reliable tool to build what are referred to as serious games, focusing on the rehabilitation paradigm. More specifically, serious games can captivate and engage players for a specific purpose such as developing new knowledge or skills. This paper discusses a serious game application with a focus on upper limb rehabilitation in patients with hemiplegia or hemiparesis. The game makes use of biofeedback and mirror-neurons to enhance the patient's engagement. Results from the application of a quantitative self-report instrument to assess in-game engagement suggest that the serious game is a viable instructional approach rather than an entertaining novelty and, furthermore, demonstrates the future potential for dual action therapy-focused games.

Evaluating the Impact of Player Experience in the Design of a Serious Game for Upper Extremity Stroke Rehabilitation.

Video games have become a major entertainment industry and one of the most popular leisure forms, ranging from laboratory experiments to a mainstream cultural medium. Indeed, current games are multimodal and multidimensional products, relying on sophisticated features including not only a narrative-driven story but also impressive graphics and detailed settings. All of these elements helped to create a seamless and appealing product that have resulted in a growing number of players and in the number of game genres. Although video games have been used in education, simulation, and training, another application that exploits serious gaming is the exploration of player experience in the context of game research. Recent advances in the natural user interfaces and player experience have brought new perspectives on the in-game assessment of serious games. This paper evaluates the impact of player experience in the design of a serious game for upper extremity stroke rehabilitation. The game combines biofeedback and mirror neurons both in single and multiplayer mode. Results have shown that the game is a feasible solution to integrate serious games into the physical therapy routine.