The use of extended reality in rehabilitation for patients with acquired brain injury: A scoping review

Abstract

Background Extended reality is increasingly used for rehabilitation after acquired brain injury, offering benefits including improved recovery, reduced length of hospital stay, enhanced self-efficacy, and lower cost. Despite these advantages, XR is rarely implemented in daily rehabilitation practice. Objective Outline extended reality for acquired brain injury research, focusing on patient outcomes and experiences to inform scale-up and implementation. Methods The Arksey and O’Malley framework and PRISMA-ScR reporting guideline were followed. Studies from 2010 to May 2022 were screened from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, and IEEE. Results Seventy-five studies met inclusion criteria: 63 on stroke patients, seven on traumatic brain injury, and five on multiple disorders. The extended reality applications focused on assessment to diagnose patient’s condition or therapy intervention, categorized into physical, cognitive, and multipurpose. Most studies used Virtual Reality. A wide range of implementation factors were identified, categorized into patient-related, professional-related, and technology and system-related factors. Conclusions Our scoping review offers a comprehensive and multidimensional analysis of research on XR applications for acquired brain injury rehabilitation. While it reports potential and promising outcomes of these applications, larger-scale studies are necessary to substantiate the effectiveness of XR and to better understand the factors influencing its implementation in daily practice.