Effectiveness of Virtual Reality-Based Physiotherapy in Enhancing Balance and Mobility Among Post-Stroke Patients
1
Physiotherapist and International Research Coordinator, Varanaa’s Healthcare Research and Training Organization LLP, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India
2
CEO and Senior Consultant Physiotherapist, Varanaa’s Healthcare Research and Training Organization LLP, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India.
3
Associate Professor, Mahaveer University, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Received: 2025-09-16
Revised: 2025-10-08
Accepted: 2025-10-29
Published: 2025-11-10
Aim:The goal of this study was to see how well virtual reality (VR) physiotherapy worked to help post-stroke patients improve their balance and mobility. A comparison was made between VR rehabilitation and traditional physiotherapy. The goal was to find out if VR therapy leads to better functional outcomes.Methodology:A randomised controlled trial was performed involving 60 post-stroke patients aged 40 to 75 years. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: a VR group with 30 people and a control group with 30 people. At the start and after six weeks, we looked at balance (BBS, FRT) and mobility (TUG, 10MWT).Results:Fifty-six patients finished the trial, with 28 in the VR group and 28 in the Control group. The VR group had much bigger improvements in balance than the control group (BBS +10.6, FRT +7.7 cm vs. BBS +5.2, FRT +3.3 cm). Mobility outcomes also favoured VR, with bigger drops in TUG (–6.2 s vs –2.6 s) and 10MWT (–6.5 s vs –2.9 s) times.Conclusion:Virtual reality-based physiotherapy was more effective than traditional physiotherapy in improving balance and mobility in post-stroke patients. The results back up the idea of using VR as an extra tool in stroke rehabilitation programs. It is advisable to conduct additional large-scale trials to confirm these findings
Virtual reality, Physiotherapy, Stroke rehabilitation, Balance, Mobility.