Virtual reality interventions and their effects on the cognition of individuals with Alzheimer's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurocognitive disorder in the world and impacts the individual's cognitive functions and functionality in the early stages of the condition. Virtual reality (VR) interventions can assist in non-pharmacological treatment in a more ecological way, positively impacting cognitive abilities. However, there are few studies on VR exclusively involving people with AD in randomized controlled trials. Objective To evaluate the effects of VR intervention on the cognitive functions of people with AD. Methods A systematically conducted search was carried out in MEDLINE, EMBASE, BVS, Web of Science, and Scopus. Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy of VR and traditional cognitive interventions in people with AD. Methodologic quality was assessed with the Cochrane risk of bias tool, and outcomes were calculated as risk ratios (for dichotomous outcomes) and mean differences (for continuous outcomes) with 95% confidence interval. Results A total of three randomized controlled trials with 75 participants were included. An improvement in the performance of the VR group was observed in memory, especially when comparing the usual treatment [MD = 0.99; CI95%: 0.33; 1.66; I 2 = 0%]. VR has little or no effect on participants’ executive function [MD = 1.36; 95%CI: −1.12; 3.85; I 2 = 0%] compared to the usual treatment. Conclusions Our study results cautiously suggest, despite the small number of participants, that VR intervention may be a suitable memory treatment for individuals diagnosed with AD.