Effect of Virtual Reality Training on Cognitive Function and Motor Performance in Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment Receiving Health Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial

AbstractGiven the prevalence of cognitive impairment in older adults and its frequent misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, non-pharmacological interventions have been proposed as solutions, which include cognitive training, prevention or risk reduction of dementia using virtual reality (VR) technology. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a virtual reality cognitive-motor training intervention (VRCMTI) on improving cognitive and physical function in older adults with cognitive impairment. We co-designed the VRCMTI system with multiple stakeholders by organizing symposiums and conducting pilot evaluations. The VRCMTI consisted of three virtual cognitive tasks and three upper limb movement tasks focused on improving working memory, spatial cognition, attention shifting, executive control, joint flexibility, and coordination. One hour of brain cognition and upper limb motor training was performed each week during the 12-week intervention. Sixty older adults were included in the study and randomly assigned to either the VR group or the control group. Participants in the control group received usual care and would not undergo any intervention training. Task independence, accuracy and time were measured during each session. The results showed that the VR group significantly improved global cognitive ability scores compared to the control group, especially in attention and verbal cognition. In addition, older adults in the VR group also showed significant improvements in upper limb motor skills, driven primarily by movement quality and processing speed. The findings suggest that VRCMTI could improve cognitive function and enhance motor performance. When implemented with routine health care for older adults, this practical and effective intervention may be an appropriate complementary strategy for maintaining cognitive health and preventing motor deterioration.Keywords: Cognitive impairmentvirtual realitycognitive trainingupper limb exercisehealth care application Disclosure statementThe authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Central Guidance for Local Science and Technology Development Funds [YDZJSX2022C004] and National Natural Science Foundation Collaboration [U21A20469]. In addition, we thank all the volunteers for their participation in our experiment.Notes on contributorsAoyu LiAoyu Li received his Master's degree from Xi'an University of Technology, China, in 2020. He is currently pursuing his PhD in the Department of Computer Science at Taiyuan University of Technology, China. His research interests include human-computer interaction and virtual reality.Jingwen LiJingwen Li is currently a student at Xijing College, and her research interests are in human-computer interaction and visualization.Wei WuWei Wu is currently pursuing her PhD at Shanxi Medical University in China. Her research interests include artificial intelligence and geriatric cognitive psychology.Juanjuan ZhaoJuanjuan Zhao is currently a professor in the College of Information and Computer at Taiyuan University of Technology, China. She is a member of the Human-Computer Interaction Committee of the Chinese Computer Federation (CCF). Her research interests include virtual reality, human-computer interaction and affective computing.Yan QiangYan Qiang is currently a professor in the College of Information and Computer at Taiyuan University of Technology, China. He is an executive member of the Human-Computer Interaction Committee of the Chinese Computer Federation (CCF). His research interests include human-computer interaction, virtual reality and artificial intelligence.