Poster 4: The Effect of Video Game-Based Exercise on Dynamic Balance and Mobility in Individuals with Huntington's Disease

Abstract

Background Huntington's disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disease in which balance and gait impairments inevitably develop, placing individuals at high risk for injurious falls and lowering their quality of life. Methods In a study designed to examine the efficacy of an exercise program using the video game Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) to improve balance and mobility in individuals with HD, participants will be 20 adults with HD who can ambulate 10 feet without assistance. A randomized, cross-over, control design is used. Subjects are alternately assigned to experimental (n = 10) and control (n = 10) groups. The experimental group performs DDR for 45 minutes 2×/week for 6 weeks in their homes with a researcher who provides instructions. The control group performs a hand-held video game that controls for the effects of the attention and novelty of the DDR intervention. After completing the initial intervention, the control group crosses over to the DDR intervention and the experimental group performs the hand-held video game. Compliance with the control phase and fall incidence is determined via weekly phone calls. All outcome measures including the Tinetti Mobility Test (TMT), the 4-square step test, the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale, forward, backward, and obstacle course spatiotemporal gait measures using the GaitRite walkway, and subjects' reported perceptions of the video games are obtained by one of the researchers, who is blinded to group assignment. Results and Discussion Preliminary data analysis of subjects who have completed the study (n = 7) shows a trend for improvements in balance measures such as the TMT and performance on an obstacle course following the DDR intervention. The majority of subjects report that the DDR game is fun, challenging, and highly motivating, whereas the hand-held games tend to be difficult and inconvenient to play. The preliminary results indicate that DDR is well tolerated, and may improve balance in this population.