Assessing User Experience in an Immersive Virtual Reality Application for Cognitive Training in Patients with Neuromuscular Disorders

Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) is receiving growing attention in hospital care. However, up to date, few studies have been conducted on using VR in neuromuscular patients. The study investigates the feasibility of conducting a cognitive task in a fully immersive virtual environment for patients with neuromuscular disorders. Thirteen patients with a neuromuscular disorder were recruited at NeuroMuscular Omnicentre (NEMO) in Milan. Patients performed a cognitive task, i.e., they did the shopping in an ad-hoc developed VR application wearing a head-mounted display. Questionnaires on anxiety, technology acceptance, flow, and cybersickness were proposed. According to the patients' response, the VR-based cognitive training was well tolerated: anxiety remained stable, the flow state and variables related to acceptability achieved medium-high scores, and symptoms of cybersickness were minimal. Overall, proposing VR sessions could enhance traditional hospital care for patients with neuromuscular disorders. Considering their tolerability, larger-scale studies could explore the effectiveness of VR-based cognitive training.