Virtual and Augmented Reality Training on Digital Mirror D-Wall. Case Study: Long Covid-19 Rehabilitation Protocol

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: The purpose is to verify whether patients with Long Covid-19 symptoms can recover Functional Capabilities and Endurance reaching the normotype subjects’ level. DESIGN: The study is a before-after trial comparing the affected sample with baseline normotype data. SETTING: The study was carried out at the private clinic "Move Different" near Aosta Italy. The clinic has an agreement with public health for a project for patients with Long Covid-19 symptoms. PARTICIPANTS: About 60 subjects (mean age 62+-3) healed from Covid-19 Virus with more than one day of hospitalization, older than 60 years old were included. They were divided into two clusters: Low Performance Patients (LPP) and Medium Performance Patients (MPP), decided by the Medical Equipe. INTERVENTIONS: The program consisted of 10 sessions of 1h, divided into 2/3 treatments per week; based on the use of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality through a Digital Mirror. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Tests were performed before and after the intervention. Increase in meters covered in the 6 Minutes Walking Test (MPP increases 56+- 65 meters, LPP increases 99+-74 meters). RESULTS: Wilcoxon test was performed between pre and post 6MWT for both of populations (pvalue < 0.005, pvalue < 0.005). After the treatment, results are close to normative data of Perera et al, 2006, Geriatrics. CONCLUSIONS: The improvement of both groups is statistically significantly difference; data support that especially the medium-functional group achieves the similar level of normotype subjects. A future randomized control trial aimed at testing whether improvement of this method over a traditional one is suggested. AUTHOR(S) DISCLOSURES: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research authorship and/or publication of this poster.