Abstract:

Background:
Simulation is considered as an active teaching-learning methodology that is performed in a controlled, protected and safe environment that allows the development of more or less complex scenarios, depending on the objectives. Virtual reality (VR) technology is one of today´s most exciting areas of technology that let be used successfully as an educational tool to address clinical practice objectives to optimize the core learning activities in medical education, but little is known about the extent and nature of VR use by physical and occupational therapists outside of a research context.

Objective:
The aim of this study was to evaluate in physical therapy students the fidelity of an immersive 360º VR video recorded in first person corresponding to the main different steps of a patient suffering from a stroke.

Methods:
A group of students participated in a quasi-experimental study watching a 360º filmation based on immersive VR program called ¨Put yourself in my shoes¨ (¨Ponte en mis zapatos¨ ®) designed by various physical therapy teachers from European University of Madrid to teach students how a patient feels when is suffering stroke. After its projection, audiovisual fidelity was evaluated with the self-applied scale of identification with the characters of fictional audiovisual stories (EDI Scale). A descriptive analysis and statistical correlations between the different items was performed.

Results:
Of 44 students that were invited to participate, 43 students visualized the filmation and answered the EDI Scale. Most students had high identification with the characters. About 86% of them felt great or very great affective involvement with the protagonist feelings, and 88,6% really liked the performance. Also 84,1% of students understood the way of acting, thinking or feeling of the protagonists, and trying see thing from the point of view of them (81,4%). Correlations between items showed that the more they gets into the protagonist role, the higher emotional impact had on the student.

Conclusions:
Creation of simulation scenarios based on immersive VR technology is considered by physical therapy students as a high-fidelity method that can allow them to acquire skills related to experiential learning in neurology disorders.

Keywords:

Simulation, virtual reality, physical therapy, immersive, stroke, education.