Systematic Literature Review of Virtual Reality Efficacy for Cognitive Rehabilitation in Stroke Survivors

Background. Stroke is one of the most common diseases which causes long-term disability, cognitive and motor impairments. The methods of conventional rehabilitation appear to be deficient in their capacity to enhance cognitive functions in patients who have suffered a stroke. Currently, virtual reality (VR) methods are of great promise in improving cognitive functions in stroke patients. Methods. A systematic literature review aimed to collect scientific evidence for the evaluation of the effectiveness of VR in cognitive rehabilitation in stroke patients. Five electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, MEDLINE, and PsycARTICLES) were searched for articles published in English-language peer-reviewed journals from 2015 to December 2023. The results of selected studies were summarized. Results. The current systematic review comprised 14 studies. A total of 555 stroke patients were included in all 14 studies. Sample sizes ranged mainly from 18 to 121 participants. The results revealed an improvement in various aspects of cognitive functions; memory, attention, visual-spatial abilities, executive, and general cognitive functions in patients suffering from a stroke after VR interventions. Conclusions. Using different VR tools with the following treatment protocol: 3-5 sessions per week for 2-8 weeks, 30-45 minutes, may show maximum benefits. Both immersive and nonimmersive VR cognitive rehabilitation proved to be an effective technique for enhancing cognitive function. However, additional investigations are required to compare the efficacy of different types of VR in this regard. Further randomized clinical trials with large sample sizes and estimations of effect sizes are needed to verify our findings.