Virtual Reality for Assessment of Chronic Lower Back Pain in Physiotherapy: Task Selection, Design, and User Experience Evaluation
2023 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Chronic lower back pain (CLBP) presents a significant challenge in healthcare, requiring effective tools for rehabilitation and assessment. This study explores the use of virtual reality (VR) for the assessment of CLBP and addresses two research questions. Firstly, it investigates how movements and tasks considered problematic for individuals with CLBP can be incorporated into the VR application for assessment purposes. Secondly, it examines physiotherapists' perceptions of the VR application regarding tasks, feasibility, user experience, and overall design. To answer our questions, we conducted three design workshops with physiotherapists and HCI researchers and designed three VR applications that we evaluated with six physiotherapy students. The study provides valuable insights into participants' perceptions and experiences, shedding light on both the promising aspects and potential pitfalls of using VR in physiotherapy assessment. The findings underscore the value of incorporating user feedback into the design and implementation process, emphasizing the need for a user-centered approach, and provide several implications for the design of VR applications for assessment. This study lays the groundwork for the integration of VR as a valuable tool in physiotherapy assessment for CLBP.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023. , p. 31
Series
Informatik Student Paper Master (INFSPM) ; 2023.14
Keywords [en]
Chronic Lower Back Pain, Virtual Reality, Physiotherapy assessment, Co-creation, User Experience, Human-Computer-Interaction
National Category
Information Systems, Social aspects
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-211224OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-211224DiVA, id: diva2:1777621
Educational program
Master's Programme in Human-Computer Interaction
Supervisors
Examiners
2023-06-302023-06-292025-02-17Bibliographically approved