Comparison of virtual reality exercise versus conventional exercise on balance in patients with functional ankle instability: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Recently, a variety of virtual reality (VR)-based interventions have been studied. However, they were only partially applied to physical therapy.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the effects of a VR exercise program by comparing the results of VR and conventional exercise on balance in patients with functional ankle instability (FAI).

METHODS: Twenty-one participants with symptoms of FAI participated in this study. In the VR training program, the strength and balance exercises were done for 10 minutes each using a program included in the Nintendo Wii Fit Plus for VR intervention. In the conventional program, four ankle strength exercises using the TheraBand and the balance exercises were performed for 10 minutes each. Static and dynamic balance were measured in the overall, anterior-posterior, and medial-lateral directions.

RESULTS: Static balance in the VR exercise was significantly lower in the overall direction than in the conventional exercise. Dynamic balance in the virtual reality exercise was significantly lower than in the conventional exercise at level 2, level 4, and level 8 balance in the medial-lateral direction.

CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown that VR exercise is more effective in the overall direction (static) and medial-lateral direction (dynamic) of balance than conventional method in patients with FAI.