REVIEW article
Front. Virtual Real.
Sec. Virtual Reality and Human Behaviour
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frvir.2025.1542804
This article is part of the Research TopicEnabling EnvironmentsView all 6 articles
The use of virtual reality technologies in children with adverse health conditions: can it improve neuromotor function? A systematic review of randomized clinical trials
Provisionally accepted
Ana Beatriz Januário Silva1,2*
Waleska Maria Almeida Barros2
Robson Feliciano Silva3
Beatriz Machado4Ana Patrícia da Silva Souza2Karollainy Gomes Silva2José Maurício Lucas Silva2Mayara Luclécia Silva2Maria Eduarda Rodrigues Alves Santos2
Sandra Lopes Lopes De Souza2- 1Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
- 2Programa de Pós-graduação em Neuropsiquiatria e Ciências do Comportamento, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
- 3Centro Integrado de Tecnologias em Neurociência (CITENC), Centro Universitário Osman Lins (UNIFACOL), Vitória de Santo Antão, PE, Brazil, Vitória de Santo Antão, Brazil
- 4Aggeu Magalhães Institute (IAM), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Objective: to synthesize information on use of virtual reality (VR) technologies for improving neuromotor outcomes in children with adverse health conditions, focusing exclusively on randomized clinical trials. Methods: The included studies followed the PICOS strategy, adhered to the methodology suggested by the PRISMA method, and complied with the protocol CRD42023416757 on the PROSPERO platform. Two databases were explored, and data collection was completed on July 6, 2024. The selected articles for this review underwent a methodological bias analysis by Joanna Briggs. Results: A total of 824 studies were identified. After analysis using the PRISMA method and application of eligibility criteria, nine studies comprised this systematic review. Data from 260 children of both sexes were analysed across three distinct adverse health conditions: developmental coordination disorder, cerebral palsy, and autism spectrum disorder. The articles correspond to the period between 2012 and 2022. Overall, the studies reported positive outcomes regarding improvements in the neuromotor system following virtual reality-based interventions. Manual dexterity improved in two studies, while enhancements were also observed in gross and fine motor skills, balance, and trunk control. Conclusion: According to this systematic review, motor skills may benefit from virtual reality-based interventions in children with cerebral palsy, developmental coordination disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. Domains such as manual dexterity, balance, motor coordination, and reaction time showed consistently positive outcomes.
Keywords: VR, Active video game, Exergames, Child, Children, Motor performance, motor skill, motor rehabilitation
Received: 10 Dec 2024; Accepted: 15 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Silva, Barros, Silva, Machado, Souza, Silva, Silva, Silva, Santos and Lopes De Souza. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ana Beatriz Januário Silva, anabeatrizpersonal@outlook.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.