Use of Nintendo Wii™ (Wii) Gaming Console for Rehabilitation of Children with Cerebral Palsy

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the potential of using Nindendo Wii, a commercially available gaming console, as an adjunct to routine therapeutic regimen, in the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy (CP). METHODS: The study was designed as a pilot randomized controlled trial with 20 CP children. The children in the intervention group played Wii games for 18 sessions in 3 weeks as part of their routine therapy. The children in the control group received routine therapy alone. The outcome measures were posture control and balance, upper limb and hand function, visuoperceptual skills and walking speed and endurance. These were measured before and after the intervention in each group. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test (for paired data) and Mann Whitney tests (for independent variables) were used for statistical analysis of the data. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A significant improvement in upper limb and hand function was seen in the post-test compared to pre-test in the intervention group, which was not seen in the control group. No statistically significant effects of the intervention were seen on the other outcomes measured compared to the control group. Children in the intervention group were highly motivated and enjoyed playing Wii games as part of their therapy sessions. We conclude that Wii games-based therapy may be offered as an effective adjunct to routine therapy in CP rehabilitation. However, larger studies will have to be done in order to come to definite conclusions regarding the beneficial effect of this intervention