Feasibility, Acceptability, and Efficacy of Virtual Reality Training for Older Adults and People With Disabilities: Single-Arm Pre-Post Study.

BACKGROUND: Unlike most virtual reality (VR) training programs that are targeted at homogenous populations, a set of VR games for rehabilitation purposes targeted at a heterogeneous group of users was developed. The VR games covered physical training, cognitive training (classification and reality orientation), community-living skills training, and relaxing scenery experiences. Special considerations for local older adults and people with disabilities were made in terms of hardware choice and software design. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptance, and efficacy of VR training among users with varying abilities. METHODS: A single-arm pretest-posttest evaluation study was conducted. The participants of the evaluation study were encouraged to undergo 30-minute VR training three times a week for 6 weeks. The 30-minute session consisted of 10 minutes of upper-limb motion games, 10 minutes of lower-limb motion games, and 10 minutes of cognitive games/community-living skills training/relaxing scenery experiences, as appropriate. On completion of each session, usage statistics were documented via the built-in VR software, whereas feedback on the experience of the VR games and adverse events was collected via self-reports and staff observations. Feasibility was reflected by usage statistics, and acceptance was reflected by positive feedback. In addition, health outcomes, including upper-limb dexterity, functional mobility, cognitive function, and happiness, were assessed at baseline, as well as 6 weeks and 3 months after baseline. The primary outcomes were upper-limb dexterity and acceptance of playing VR games. RESULTS: A total of 135 participants with a mean age of 62.7 years (SD 21.5) were recruited from May 2019 to January 2020, and 124 (91.9%) completed at least one follow-up. Additionally, 76.3% (103/135) of the participants could attend at least 70% of the proposed 18 sessions, and 72.5% (1382/1906) of the sessions had a training time of at least 20 minutes. Linear mixed effect models showed statistically significant effects in terms of upper-limb dexterity (small effect) and cognitive function (moderate effect). Among the 135 participants, 88 provided positive comments. Additionally, 10.4% (14/135) reported mild discomfort, such as dizziness, and none reported severe discomfort. CONCLUSIONS: A set of VR training games for rehabilitation could be applied to users with heterogeneous abilities. Our VR games were acceptable to local older adults and those with different disabilities. Benefits in upper-limb dexterity and cognitive function were observed despite partial compliance to the training protocol. Service providers could refer to our experiences when developing VR training systems for their clients.

Health literacy, complication awareness, and diabetic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

AIM: This paper is a report of a study to examine the relationship between health literacy, complication awareness and diabetic control among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and to validate a Chinese version of the Short-form Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults. BACKGROUND: There is a rapidly increasing trend in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Asian countries. Alongside the considerable progress in recent decades of health education in the field of diabetes care, the effects of health literacy and complication awareness have received increasing attention over the past 10 years. METHOD: This study was conducted from September 2005 to February 2006 with 149 Chinese patients (mean = 59.8 years, range: 27-90 years) who were undergoing/had undergone diabetic complication assessment. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire incorporating demographics; assessment of complication awareness in two sections: a self-developed 10-item patient awareness score and a modified Chinese version of the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities measure; and health literacy as measured by the Chinese version of the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults. Diabetic control was assessed by the most recent HbA1c level. FINDINGS: Health literacy (P < 0.001) and patient awareness scores were negatively correlated to diabetic control (P = 0.035), but management of treatment in the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities measure (P = 0.030), gender (P = 0.023) and duration of diabetes (P < 0.001) were positively correlated to HbA1c. CONCLUSION: To develop effective patient education and improve patients' diabetic control and own complications, educational strategies need to consider patients' health literacy levels and self-care skills.