The effect of fine motor grip studies in virtual reality environment on performence-based hand skills in children with cerebral palsy

The aim of our research is to examine the effect of fine motor grasping exercises in virtual reality environment on performance-based dexterity in children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). 32 children diagnosed with CP from a neurologist were included in the study. Participants were randomly divided into 2 groups with 16 participants in each group. While virtual reality treatment is applied in addition to Neurodevelopmental Therapy (NGT) methods in the group we call Leap Motion Group; Only NGT was applied in the Control Group. Within the scope of virtual reality treatment, object catching, firefly and bee-batting games were used through the Leap Motion Sensor. Practices continued for 6 weeks, with 2 sessions per week and 45 minutes per session. Box and Block Test, Nine Hole Board Test, Pink Tower Timed Performance Test were applied to evaluate performance-based dexterity before and after the treatment, while the ABILHAND-Kids Questionnaire was applied to measure the level of independence in daily living activities. After the treatment, significant changes were obtained in the performance-based dexterity test results and ABILHAND- Kids Questionnaire scores in all groups (p<0.05). According to the results of our research, virtual reality exercises applied using Leap Motion Sensor in addition to NGT in children with CP improve performance-based dexterity. It has also been observed that these studies increase the motivation of children. Our study is registered in Clinicaltrials.gov website with NCT04954144 number.