Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: Sep 19, 2024
Date Accepted: Aug 12, 2025
Feasibility, usability, and effects of the leisure-based cognitive training using a fully immersive virtual reality system in older adults: Pilot single-arm pre-post study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Cognitive training has been shown to improve cognitive function in older adults, with the inclusion of leisure activities such as gardening potentially enhancing both its effectiveness and enjoyment. Although fully immersive virtual reality (VR) training has demonstrated positive outcomes, research integrating leisure activities with VR for older adults remains sparse. We developed a VR system incorporating gardening to enhance cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults.
Objective:
This study aimed to assess the feasibility, usability, and preliminary effectiveness of leisure-based VR cognitive training for community-dwelling older adults.
Methods:
The fully immersive VR system used a head-mounted display for leisure-based cognitive training, featuring simulated gardening tasks (planting, fertilizing, harvesting) to enhance cognitive function. Participants trained twice weekly for 1 hour over 8 weeks. Feasibility and usability were assessed by older adults and professionals. Outcome measures were the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), Word List subtests and Spatial Span subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-WL and WMS-SS), and the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT), with assessments conducted before and after training.
Results:
The study recruited 41 elderly participants, all of whom completed the 16 VR training sessions with 100% attendance. Acceptance of the VR experience (PU, PE, UE, ITU) was above average, with a usability score of 68, rated "average." After training, significant improvements were seen in MoCA (p= 0.004), DSST (p= 0.049), WMS-WL (p< 0.001), and SCWT (p= 0.002), but no significant change was found for WMS-SS (p= 0.29).
Conclusions:
Our findings show that the leisure-based VR cognitive training system is feasible, usable, and effective in enhancing cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults. Future studies should include control groups to confirm these results. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT05227495. (01/04/2021)
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