Psychological benefits of virtual reality for patients in rehabilitation therapy.

Context: Whether virtual rehabilitation is beneficial has not been determined.

Objective: To investigate the psychological benefits of virtual reality in rehabilitation.

Design: An experimental group underwent therapy with a virtual-reality-based exercise bike, and a control group underwent the therapy without virtual-reality equipment.

Setting: Hospital laboratory.

Patients: 30 patients suffering from spinal-cord injury.

Intervention: A designed rehabilitation therapy.

Main Outcome Measures: Endurance, Borg's rating-of-perceived-exertion scale, the Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List (AD-ACL), and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire.

Results: The differences between the experimental and control groups were significant for AD-ACL calmness and tension.

Conclusion: A virtual-reality-based rehabilitation program can ease patients' tension and induce calm.