Efficacy of a VR-based Balance Training Program on Exercise Adherence, Balance, and Mobility of Older Adults: A Quasi-Experimental Study

The intervention is a virtual reality-based balance exercise (VR-BEx) program designed for healthy older adults. VR-BEx contains 5 exergames that are designed to address different fall risk factors such as balance, reaction time, and lower body strength. The exergames will be projected on an LED TV position 3 meters in front of the participant. The exercise tasks featured in the exergames include tandem stance, single leg stance, lateral weight-transfer, reaction stepping, and squat. The exercise task will be performed 10 times at each trial and the exergame will be played twice. Each exergame will be played for 5 minutes interspersed with a 2 minute rest interval. The difficulty setting of each exergame will be adjusted to ensure that the exercise task is performed at a moderate difficulty level (i.e. 4 - 6 of the 10-point Perceived Difficulty Rating scale). The intervention will be implemented for 30 - 40 minutes three times a week for 6 months at the Selwyn Village (i.e., aged care facility) and Exercise Science Building of the University of Auckland. A research assistant will supervise the intervention in-person for the first 3 months to help the participant familiarize with the system and how to change the game settings (e.g., difficulty level). The participant will perform the balance exergame program unsupervised in the remainder of the study. VR-BEx will automatically record the scores and relevant data (e.g., date, exercise duration) each time the participant uses the exergame system.