Visual Feedback SYSTEM for Performance Evaluation
and Intervention in the Proprioception of Children With
Down's syndrome
Name: SHEILA DA LUZ SCHREIDER
Publication date: 20/02/2020
Advisor:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| TEODIANO FREIRE BASTOS FILHO | Advisor * |
Examining board:
| Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ANA CECILIA VILLA PARRA | External Examiner * |
| ANSELMO FRIZERA NETO | Co advisor * |
| SONIA ALVES GOUVEA | Internal Examiner * |
| TEODIANO FREIRE BASTOS FILHO | Advisor * |
Summary: This work aimed to verify the effect of a game therapy therapeutic protocol on the
proprioception and postural balance of three children with Down Syndrome as well as
the analysis of biomedical images captured by the multicamera system used in this
research in order to analyze functional performance and monitor the therapeutic
evolution of the users. The methodological outline of this research is a case study
using a sample composed by three children clinically diagnosed with Down
Syndrome: two females aged nine and ten years old and one male aged nine years
old. During the first session their parents have received information about the
research objectives, the methodology used and a full explanation about the consent
form so they could sign it. Subsequently, they performed anamnesis and answered a
quality of life questionnaire, the Whoqol Bref. Afterwards, children underwent two
assessment: the first one was a psychomotor evaluation using Vitor da Fonseca
Psychomotor Battery (FONSECA, 1975) and the second one was a balance and risk
of falling from own height evaluation using the Berg Balance Scale. Two children had
shown dyspraxic psychomotor profile and according their score on the Berg Scale
they could be classified as safe locomotion without need for walking aids. The other
one had shown a deficient psychomotor profile and a Berg Scale score that classified
as a safe locomotion requiring the use of a walking aid. The mother of this last child
reported that her daughter used to fall from her own height frequently. After this
assessment, children underwent a game therapy protocol developed by the author,
who is a physiotherapist, together with the engineering crew of Assistive Technology
Center of the Federal University of Espírito Santo, and which has its focus on
proprioception training and body balance. The serious game protocol was composed
by 12 sessions each of them lasting 40 minutes and containing three games. The
frequency carried out was two sessions per week. The serious games were
developed based on a user data acquisition system through the Microsoft Kinect V2
sensor. After the perform of the game therapy protocol, the children were submitted
to an evaluation identical to the initial assessment and their parents answered the
Whoqol Bref questionnaire again. In the final evaluation, all the children presented a
score increase in the balance, lateralization, body notion and global praxis subunits.
Also, all of them presented an increase in the Berg Scale score. As a result, the child
who had an indication for the use of walking aids achieved a score equivalent to a
safe walking without the need for walking aids and in the last 40 days of the game
therapy protocol there were no fall from this kid, said the mother. Regarding the
analysis of the quality of life of parents and/or caregivers, an increase in the score
was observed in all domains of the questionnaire when comparing the answers of the
questionnaires before and after the application of the game therapy protocol,
highlighting the social relations domain which presented the highest score increase,
2.22 points. The analysis of biomedical images, performed by the engineering team
of this research, described in this study, are able to provide important estimated data
for the monitoring of the user response to the game as well as the evolution due to
the applied therapy.
