To examine the effects of virtual reality-based cognitive interventions on cognitive function and activities of daily living among stroke patients, and to identify the optimal design for such intervention.
Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane, CINANL, JBI-EBP and Web of Science from inception to October 2023.
Methodological quality was assessed by Risk of Bias Tool. Meta-analyses were assessed by Review Manager 5.4. Subgroup analyses were conducted to explore the influence of study design. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was adopted to assess the certainty of evidence.
Twenty-five randomized controlled trials (1178 participants) were included. Virtual reality-based cognitive interventions demonstrated moderate-to-large effects in improving global cognitive function (SMD = 0.43; 95% CI [0.01, 0.85]), executive function (SMD = 0.84; 95% CI [0.25, 1.43]) and memory (SMD = 0.65; 95% CI [0.15, 1.16]) compared to control treatments. No significant effects were found on language, visuospatial ability and activities of daily living. Subgroup analyses indicated one-on-one coaching, individualized design and dynamic difficulty adjustment, and interventions lasting ≥ 6 weeks had particularly enhanced effects, especially for executive function.
Virtual reality-based cognitive interventions improve global cognitive function, executive function and memory among stroke patients.
This review underscores the broad cognitive advantages offered by virtual technology, suggesting its potential integration into standard stroke rehabilitation protocols for enhanced cognitive recovery.
The study identifies key factors in virtual technology interventions that effectively improve cognitive function among stroke patients, offering healthcare providers a framework for leveraging such technology to optimize cognitive outcomes in stroke rehabilitation.
PRISMA 2020 statement.
CRD42022342668.
Phenomenography emerged from pedagogy to examine the qualitatively different ways that individuals experience and perceive the same phenomenon. Despite its uniqueness, the uptake of phenomenography in nursing research is still limited. Potentially, this may be related to confusion regarding what the design is about, its philosophical underpinnings and how distinct it is from other qualitative designs.
To offer a better understanding of phenomenography by comparing it with other established qualitative research designs, examining its theoretical foundations, highlighting some studies that have employed the approach in nursing and offering methodological guidance to improve its uptake in nursing.
Discussion paper.
Compared to the traditional qualitative designs employed in nursing, phenomenography has been utilized in fewer studies. The ontological, epistemological and methodological basis of phenomenography highlights it as a distinct design. The strength of phenomenography lies in its emphasis on understanding the collective variations between participants and presenting these holistically as an ‘outcome space’.
Phenomenography is a distinct qualitative research approach that presents a unique opportunity for nursing to further its use. Issues regarding bracketing, the inclusion of phenomenography studies in qualitative meta-synthesis and employing a hermeneutic approach to phenomenography are avenues for further work in nursing.
No patient or public contribution.