Context: Whether virtual rehabilitation is beneficial has not been determined.
Objective: To investigate the psychological benefits of virtual reality in rehabilitation.
Design: An experimental group underwent therapy with a virtual-reality-based exercise bike, and a control group underwent the therapy without virtual-reality equipment.
Setting: Hospital laboratory.
Patients: 30 patients suffering from spinal-cord injury.
Intervention: A designed rehabilitation therapy.
Main outcome measures: Endurance, Borg's rating-of-perceived-exertion scale, the Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List (AD-ACL), and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire.
Results: The differences between the experimental and control groups were significant for AD-ACL calmness and tension.
Conclusion: A virtual-reality-based rehabilitation program can ease patients' tension and induce calm.