Comparative Effects of Non-Immersive Virtual Reality Environment and Conventional Treatment in Patients with Tennis Elbow
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55735/3vap0195Keywords:
Lateral epicondylitis, Musculoskeletal rehabilitation, Non-Immersive virtual reality , Tennis ElbowAbstract
Background: Tennis elbow, also called lateral epicondylitis, is a common musculoskeletal problem that causes soreness and pain in the lateral region of the elbow. As the name suggests, it mainly affects people who perform repeated arm and wrist motions, such as tennis players. Objective: To determine the effect of non-immersive virtual reality and conventional treatment in tennis elbow patients. Methodology: Randomized controlled trial. Community setting at SARAM Hospital, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. About 40 participants aged 18 to 45 years with a clinical diagnosis of tennis elbow of a minimum of six weeks’ duration had not received any other active treatment by a health practitioner in the previous six months. Participants of the experimental group were administered a non-immersive virtual reality-based intervention for pain, functionality, and general recuperation of the tennis elbow, which is lateral epicondylitis. Participants in the control group were given standardized physiotherapy treatments to help them manage their tennis elbow symptoms. Global improvement, grip force, and assessor’s rating of severity were measured at baseline. Results: Both groups experienced significant decreases in pain following their respective interventions. Paired-sample t-tests in the traditional group indicated significant reductions in pain during conventional rehabilitation exercises like wrist extensor stretch, wrist flexor stretch, eccentric wrist extensor strengthening, and finger stretch with a wristband (p<0.001). The independent-sample t-test indicated highly significant differences in post-intervention pain between the control and virtual reality conditions for the above tasks (p=0.00). Conclusion: Non-immersive virtual reality-based therapy performed significantly better than standard treatment in reducing pain and increasing function in patients with tennis elbow. Improved compliance and attendance in the virtual reality group explained improved outcomes. Younger subjects benefited most from virtual reality interventions.
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