Investigating the Use of Rehabilitation Based on Play Therapy to Increase the Attention of Medical Students

Abstract

Objectives: Attention is one of the cognitive functions that can be enhanced through cognitive rehabilitation. Play therapy is a treatment option for cognitive impairments. This study aims to investigate the use of rehabilitation based on play therapy to increase the attention of medical students. Methods: The present research is a randomized controlled clinical trial. The statistical population included all 162 third-year students of the College of Medicine in 2022 at the University of Baghdad City, Iraq. Using simple random sampling, the statistical population of 70 people was selected and then divided into intervention (n=35) and control (n=35) groups. Play therapy was provided to individuals in the intervention group, while subjects in the control group did not receive any intervention. We used the IVA-2 CPT software, version 2019.1 to assess visual and auditory attention as well as response control performance. The pre-test and post-test stages were separated by a 15-week interval. The data were analyzed via the multivariate covariance analysis in the SPSS software, version 23. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: The results indicated a statistically significant difference between the intervention group’s mean pre-test and post-test scores (P<0.001); thus, the rehabilitation based on play therapy significantly enhanced attention in the intervention group. Also, the post-test results revealed a statistically significant difference between both groups (P<0.001). Discussion: Rehabilitation based on play therapy is an effective way to increase people’s attention.

Keywords

• rehabilitation
• play therapy
• attention
• medical students
• computer games