Serious Games used in Rehabilitation of Patients with Osteoarthritis

The degenerative rheumatic disease to the hip joint is common in the elderly population. Diseases of the hip joint affect the functionality of the lower limb. This disability leads to a decrease in the quality of life, specifically to both the somatic and the psychic components, being marked by the traumatic effects represented by pain, stability deficit, and mobility deficit, having a major disabling character. By applying the medical rehabilitation program based on serious games can improve the general condition of the patient, increase mobility in the hip joint, increase the strength of the hip muscles, and reeducation of gait. The main objective of this paper is to present the use of the exergames-based program as a method of physical therapy in the treatment of degenerative rheumatic disease of the hip joint. Also, this paper presents a study on 12 patients with degenerative rheumatic disease in the hip joint and the efficiency of the physical therapy using serious games.