The Use of Home-Based Nonimmersive Virtual Reality to Encourage Physical and Cognitive Exercise in People With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Feasibility Study

Efficacy of virtual reality technology interventions for cognitive and mental outcomes in older people with cognitive disorders: An umbrella review comprising meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials

We conducted an umbrella review of virtual reality (VR) technology interventions and cognitive improvement in older adults with cognitive disorders to establish a hierarchy of evidence. We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO databases from database creation to February 2023. We included meta-analyses relevant to our study objectives for the overall review. We assessed the methodological quality according to AMSTAR2, and we used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) method to assess the credibility of the evidence. This overall review was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42023423063). We identified six meta-analyses that included 12 cognitive outcomes, but only memory (Standardized Mean Difference(SMD) = 0.27, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.04 to 0.49), depression (SMD = -1.26, 95% CI: -1.8 to -0.72), and global cognition (SMD = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.18 to 0.66) improved through the VR technology intervention. Using the 95% prediction interval (PI) results, we found that VR technology did not significantly affect the cognitive abilities of people with cognitive decline despite increasing the subject size. We conclude that the VR technology intervention improved only specific cognitive abilities.

iPhone Accelerometry Provides a Sensitive In-Home Assessment of Age-Related Changes in Standing Balance

Remote health monitoring has become increasingly important, especially in aging populations. We aimed to identify tasks that are sensitive to age-related changes in balance during fully remote, at-home balance assessment. Participants were 12 healthy young adults (mean age = 26.08 years, range: 18-33) and 12 healthy older adults (mean age = 67.33 years, range: 60-75). Participants performed standing tasks monitored via video conference while their balance was quantified using a custom iPhone application measuring mediolateral center of mass acceleration. We included three stances (feet together, tandem, and single leg) with eyes open or closed, with or without a concurrent cognitive task. Older adults demonstrated significantly more variable center of mass accelerations in tandem (p = .04, ηp2=.25) and significantly higher (p < .01, ηp2=.45) and more variable (p < .01, ηp2=.44) center of mass accelerations in single leg compared with young adults. We also observed that as task challenge increased, balance dual-task cost diminished for older, but not young, adults.