Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating illness of the central nervous system (CNS) of unknown etiology and a multifactorial origin. Currently, MS represents the most common neurological illness that causes disability among young adults in Europe and North America.
The symptoms depend on the areas of the CNS that are injured, with considerable clinical variability between patients, depending on the level of severity and the duration of the disease. Among the most common symptoms, patients exhibit fatigue, visual disorders, problems affecting balance and coordination, sensitivity disorders, spasticity, cognitive and emotional disorders, speech disorders, problems affecting the bladder and intestines, as well as sexual related dysfunction.
Different disease courses exist for MS, according to the appearance of symptoms, such as relapsing-remitting MS, primary progressive MS, secondary-progressive MS and progressive-recurrent MS. Relapsing-remitting MS is the most common form of MS.
The symptoms appear in the form of relapses, which are of a variable duration and which vary from one episode to the other, according to the affected area in the CNS. After the flare-ups, symptoms subside and usually disappear completely, although there may be neurological aftereffects. In primary-progressive MS, a progressive clinical deterioration occurs, without relapses, from the onset of the illness. This type of MS is suffered by 12% of people with MS. In secondary-progressive MS, patients initially present a relapsing-remitting course, however, over time, they develop a progressive clinical deterioration without experiencing distinctive relapses. Progressive-recurrent MS, is the least common type of illness.
Two fundamental and complementary aspects exist in the treatment of MS: pharmacological and rehabilitation treatments. Over recent years, a substantial change has occurred in the approach to MS, thanks to the appearance of new drugs aimed at modifying the progression of the disease. However, these drugs would be more effective if they were complemented by a good rehabilitation program. With regards rehabilitation, a symptomatic treatment of MS is performed in order to improve the quality of life and functional independence, with the main therapeutic demands being the alterations of postural control and the performance of activities of daily living. Occupational therapy (OT) assesses the capacities and physical, psychological, sensory and social problems of the individual with MS, in order to enable the person to achieve the greatest possible level of independence in their daily living and/or to facilitate the adaptation to their disability. At times, rehabilitation treatments for patients with MS can be very lengthy and systematic, leading to patients that lose motivation and compliance. As a result, in recent years, new intervention strategies have been introduced, such as virtual reality (VR), thanks to VR motion capture technology without the need of using any device or controller. Here, patient motivation is promoted via novel approaches based on practicing functional tasks in virtual surroundings, which provide feedback to the patient concerning results, and are based on the repetition of activities of daily living (ADLs). The development of these technologies has provided rehabilitation professionals with the ability to expand the care of patients with MS as a complement to their rehabilitation program, achieving a higher treatment intensity at a sustainable cost. However, there are few studies on the effects that VR has on the manual dexterity of patients with MS.
Therefore, the objective of the present study was to analyze the effects of an OT intervention combined with VR on manual skills, compared with conventional OT approaches in people with MS.
