O EFEITO DA REALIDADE VIRTUAL NA CAPACIDADE FUNCIONAL DE MEMBROS SUPERIORES EM INDIVÍDUOS COM HEMIPARESIA

Stroke may lead to total and/or partial loss of normal function in one of the upper limbs, and the rehabilitation is one of the main focuses of physiotherapists. The objective was to analyze the effects of virtual reality on upper limb functional capacity in individuals with hemiparesis. Initially they were evaluated for manual dexterity by the Nine Hole Peg Test (NHPT) and Box and Blocks Test (BBT) then be conducted to perform a 16-session protocol using virtual reality game through Nintendo WiiTM console. ™. We included 10 individuals with mean age of 64.5±9.54 and did not demonstrated significant results when comparing the moments, only a small effect (d=0.23) was found in the left upper limb in the NHPT. It was concluded, there was no significant improvement in the functional capacity of the upper limbs using virtual reality in individuals with hemiparesis.