Evaluation of the Usability of a Serious Game in Virtual Reality with a Focus on the Perception and Experience of Health Professionals for Motor Rehabilitation in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Introduction: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a nonprogressive neuropathological condition that requires lifelong neurocognitive-motor rehabilitation. Evidences indicate that the use of new technologies to assist in rehabilitation processes, such as serious games in virtual reality (VR), have served as adjuncts to therapy and capable of promoting engagement, motivation, and motor activation for these patients.Objective: To investigate the usability of a serious game in VR to help with the stability and balance of the head and trunk of children with CP, focusing on the perception and experience of health professionals.Methods: The collection was carried out with health professionals, and the results were comprehensively evaluated through viability by means of the total score, number of correct answers, number of errors, and level of difficulty during the execution of the game, which were collected from the performance report generated by the application. System satisfaction was also verified by the System Usability Scale (SUS).Results: The mean obtained from the total score of the SUS was 82.10 +/- 12.66 points, being considered of high usability for the suggested purpose. The professionals' opinion about the usability of the system did not change due to the performance during the game.Conclusion: The study demonstrated that the developed rehabilitation program has successfully delivered the experience to exercise the head control and trunk balance of subjects with CP.