Bruno Bonnechère1,2,3,4, Mélissa Van Vooren1,5, Bart Jansen3,4, Jan S Van Sint1,2, Mohamed Rahmoun6, Maryam Fourtassi7. 1. 1 Laboratory of Anatomy, Biomechanics and Organogenesis (LABO), Université Libre de Bruxelles , Brussels, Belgium . 2. 2 Center for Functional Evaluation , Faculty of Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium . 3. 3 Department of Electronics and Informatics-ETRO, Vrije Universiteit Brussel , Brussels, Belgium . 4. 4 iMec , Leuven, Belgium . 5. 5 Geriatric Department, Erasme Hospital , Brussels, Belgium . 6. 6 Laboratoire des Systèmes Electronique, Informatique et Images, Ecole Nationale des Sciences Appliquées, Université Mohammed I Oujda , Oujda, Morocco . 7. 7 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Mohammed VI Oujda , Oujda, Morocco .
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether serious games especially customized for physical rehabilitation could be used in daily clinics with patients who are not familiar with informatics and/or new technologies and whether such a clinical approach would be culturally acceptable within a North African population to plan further clinical distribution if the hypothesis appears to be positive. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one patients participated in this study. Experiments were performed in the University Hospital Mohammed VI Oujda in Morocco. Patients were asked to perform physical rehabilitation exercises with dedicated serious games after their conventional therapy session. A questionnaire was used to evaluate patients' habits to rehabilitation exercises and satisfaction and expectation about the use of serious games for physical rehabilitation. RESULTS: The same problem of low participation in at-home exercises was found in Morocco compared to Europe and the United States: 60 (30)% of the exercises was performed by the patients in Morocco and 48 (28)% in Europe and the United States. Results of this study show that serious games are well accepted by the patients (100%) and that it can help during rehabilitation (90%). Most of the patients prefer exercises with games than conventional rehabilitation exercises. CONCLUSION: Even in a context of low education (participants in this study attended school until the age of 10 years old), and low access and knowledge about new technology and informatics, rehabilitation exercises within serious games seem to be an interesting option to motivate patients during rehabilitation with a physiotherapist. Such a system could be installed also at home to increase patient's participation.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether serious games especially customized for physical rehabilitation could be used in daily clinics with patients who are not familiar with informatics and/or new technologies and whether such a clinical approach would be culturally acceptable within a North African population to plan further clinical distribution if the hypothesis appears to be positive. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one patients participated in this study. Experiments were performed in the University Hospital Mohammed VI Oujda in Morocco. Patients were asked to perform physical rehabilitation exercises with dedicated serious games after their conventional therapy session. A questionnaire was used to evaluate patients' habits to rehabilitation exercises and satisfaction and expectation about the use of serious games for physical rehabilitation. RESULTS: The same problem of low participation in at-home exercises was found in Morocco compared to Europe and the United States: 60 (30)% of the exercises was performed by the patients in Morocco and 48 (28)% in Europe and the United States. Results of this study show that serious games are well accepted by the patients (100%) and that it can help during rehabilitation (90%). Most of the patients prefer exercises with games than conventional rehabilitation exercises. CONCLUSION: Even in a context of low education (participants in this study attended school until the age of 10 years old), and low access and knowledge about new technology and informatics, rehabilitation exercises within serious games seem to be an interesting option to motivate patients during rehabilitation with a physiotherapist. Such a system could be installed also at home to increase patient's participation.