Os efeitos do uso da realidade virtual no equilíbrio de idosos com demência: uma revisão de literatura

Abstract

Population aging has been occurring at an accelerated rate on a global scale, with a consequent impact on the economies and health systems of nations. In Brazil, it is estimated that we will increase from the current 20 million elderly people over 65 years of age in 2020. Dementia is an acquired syndrome characterized by the slow and progressive loss of intellectual function, causing cognitive decline, causing the loss of the individual's capacity be independent and carry out your daily life activities. Balance, in turn, is compromised by the inability of the central nervous system to process vestibular signals and the ability to modify adaptive reflexes due to advancing age. (RUWER, ROSSI, and SIMON, 2005, p.299 - 302). Training with VR promotes learning gains and according to BISSON, (2017), in elderly people who use this technology it is possible to observe a gain in attention when processing external information and react more quickly, thus promoting a reduction in the risk of falls. This study aims to review the literature on the effects caused by the use of virtual reality on the balance of elderly people with dementia. The study consists of a narrative review of the literature, guided by a search in the following databases: PubMed, and Medline via VHL, using the following descriptors: “Virtual Reality and Dementia”, considering publications carried out in the years 2017 to 2023. Each of the three studies found satisfactory results related to the use of virtual reality, had a good tolerance rate, despite the sample size being small in two of the studies. Even though the selected articles have a low volume, these studies bring favorable results with regard to the use of VR.