The role of rehabilitation with virtual reality in functional ability and quality of life of individuals with Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of dopaminergic neurons that can cause some mobility limitations, which in turn, can negatively impact quality of life (QOL) of individuals with PD. Virtual reality (VR) has been used to treat these patients. Objective: Evaluate the functional capacity and QOL of individuals with PD using VR with X-Box Kinect®. Methods: 20 individuals classified as stages 1-3, aged 50-80 years were selected. They were randomly divided into two groups (control and experimental) with ten patients in each. The control group (CG) was treated with conventional therapy for five weeks, with two 60-minute sessions per week, whereas the experimental group (EG) had they sessions split in half: conventional physical therapy and virtual rehabilitation (VR). Subjects were evaluated before and after the treatment with the following scales: Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale - (UPDRS) and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). Result: We found a reduction in scores for all domains of UPDRS and PDQ-39 in both groups, but only in the EG this finding was significant. Conclusion: VR combined with physiotherapy is an efficient method, what may influence the clinical aspect and improve QOL of individuals with PD.A doença de Parkinson (DP) é uma patologia neurodegenerativa e progressiva podendo causar algumas limitações motoras que, por sua vez, podem impactar negativamente na qualidade de vida (QV) de indivíduos com DP. A realidade virtual (RV) vem sendo utilizada como tratamento destes pacientes. Objetivo: Avaliar a capacidade funcional e a QV de indivíduos com DP submetidos à RV com X-Box Kinect®. Método: Foram selecionados 20 indivíduos entre 50 a 80 anos, nos estágios 1 a 3 da doença. Divididos através de sorteio em dois grupos, o controle (GC) e o experimental (GE). O GC tratado com fisioterapia convencional, no período de cinco semanas, com duas sessões semanais de 60 minutos, enquanto o GE passou a metade do tempo com fisioterapia convencional e a outra metade realizou a RV. Os indivíduos foram submetidos a avaliações antes e após o tratamento através das seguintes escalas: UPDRS e PDQ-39. Resultados: Encontrou-se redução nos escores de todos os domínios da UPDRS e do PDQ-39 de ambos os grupos, sendo significativo apenas no grupo da GE. Conclusão: A RV aliada à fisioterapia é um método eficiente, influenciando no aspecto clínico e melhora da QV de indivíduos com DP

Neotropical freshwater fisheries : A dataset of occurrence and abundance of freshwater fishes in the Neotropics

The Neotropical region hosts 4225 freshwater fish species, ranking first among the world's most diverse regions for freshwater fishes. Our NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set is the first to produce a large-scale Neotropical freshwater fish inventory, covering the entire Neotropical region from Mexico and the Caribbean in the north to the southern limits in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. We compiled 185,787 distribution records, with unique georeferenced coordinates, for the 4225 species, represented by occurrence and abundance data. The number of species for the most numerous orders are as follows: Characiformes (1289), Siluriformes (1384), Cichliformes (354), Cyprinodontiformes (245), and Gymnotiformes (135). The most recorded species was the characid Astyanax fasciatus (4696 records). We registered 116,802 distribution records for native species, compared to 1802 distribution records for nonnative species. The main aim of the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set was to make these occurrence and abundance data accessible for international researchers to develop ecological and macroecological studies, from local to regional scales, with focal fish species, families, or orders. We anticipate that the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set will be valuable for studies on a wide range of ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, fishery pressure, the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, and the impacts of species invasion and climate change. There are no copyright restrictions on the data, and please cite this data paper when using the data in publications