Visuospatial abilities and cervical spine range of motion improvement effects of a non-goal-oriented VR travel program at an older adults facility:A pilot randomized controlled trial

Virtual reality (VR) programs using head-mounted displays (HMD) give older adults the opportunity for unrestricted spatial exploration, with greater movement. We conducted a single-blind randomized control trial study to determine the beneficial effects of a non-goal-directed VR traveling program using an HMD on older adults living in an assisted living facility that also caters for people with dementia. Twenty-four participants, with an average age of 88.5 years, were randomly assigned to the VR program group or the control group. The VR group participated in three weekly VR travel sessions of 30 minutes each, for four weeks. The results showed that the VR group not only experienced improvement in simple visuospatial abilities, but also in tasks involving executive function. There was also improvement in vertical and horizontal cervical spine range of motion. However, cervical range of motion in lateral bending was worse in the VR group than in the control group, suggesting a possible effect of the weight of the HMD. Training in wide visual exploration that improves cervical spine range of motion may provide an orientation opportunity to avoid falls among older adults.