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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Serious Games

Date Submitted: Oct 1, 2019
Date Accepted: Dec 7, 2020

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

Promoting Physical Activity in Japanese Older Adults Using a Social Pervasive Game: Randomized Controlled Trial

Santos LHDO, Okamoto K, Otsuki R, Hiragi S, Yamamoto G, Sugiyama O, Aoyama T, Kuroda T

Promoting Physical Activity in Japanese Older Adults Using a Social Pervasive Game: Randomized Controlled Trial

JMIR Serious Games 2021;9(1):e16458

DOI: 10.2196/16458

PMID: 33404507

PMCID: 7817358

Promoting Physical Activity of Japanese Older Adults using a Social Pervasive Game: Quasi-Experimental Study

  • Luciano Henrique De Oliveira Santos; 
  • Kazuya Okamoto; 
  • Ryo Otsuki; 
  • Shusuke Hiragi; 
  • Goshiro Yamamoto; 
  • Osamu Sugiyama; 
  • Tomoki Aoyama; 
  • Tomohiro Kuroda

ABSTRACT

Background:

Pervasive games aim to create more fun and engaging experiences by mixing elements from the real world into the game world. Because they intermingle with player’s life and naturally promote more casual gameplay, they could be a powerful strategy to stimulate physical activity among older adults. However, to use these games more effectively, it is necessary to understand how design elements of the game affect player behavior.

Objective:

The aim was to evaluate how the presence of a specific design element, namely social interaction, would affect levels of physical activity.

Methods:

Participants were recruited offline and randomly assigned to control and intervention groups in a single-blind design. Over 4 weeks, two variations of the same pervasive game were compared: social interaction for the test group and no social interaction for the control group. In both versions, players had to walk to physical locations and collect virtual cards, but the social interaction version allowed people to collaborate to obtain more cards. Weekly step counts were used to evaluate the effect on each group, and the number of places visited was used as an indicator of play activity.

Results:

A total of 20 participants were recruited (no social interaction=10, social interaction=10); 18 remained active until the end of the study (no social interaction=9, social interaction=9). Step counts during the first week were used as the baseline (no social interaction: mean 46,697.2, SE 7,905.4; social interaction: mean 45,967.3, SE 8,260.7). For the following weeks, changes to individual baseline were as follows for no social interaction (absolute/proportional): 1,583.3 (SE 3,108.3)/4.6% (SE 7.2%), 591.5 (SE 2,414.5)/2.4% (SE 4.7%), and −1,041.8 (SE 1,992.7)/0.6% (SE 4.4%) for weeks 2, 3, and 4, respectively. For social interaction they were 11,520.0 (SE 3,941.5)/28.0% (SE 8.7%), 9,567.3 (SE 2,631.5)/23.0% (SE 5.1%), and 7,648.7 (SE 3,900.9)/13.9% (SE 8.0%) for weeks 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Analysis of group effect was significant (absolute change: η2 = .31, P=.04); proportional change: η2 = .30, P=.03). Correlation between both absolute and proportional change and the play activity were significant (absolute change: r=.59, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.77; proportional change: r=.39, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.64).

Conclusions:

The presence of social interaction design elements in the pervasive game appears to have a positive effect on levels of physical activity. Clinical Trial: Japan Medical Association Clinical Trial Registration Number JMA-IIA00314; https://dbcentre3.jmacct.med.or.jp/JMACTR/App/JMACTRS06/JMACTRS06.aspx?seqno=7274 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/761a6MVAy)


 Citation

Please cite as:

Santos LHDO, Okamoto K, Otsuki R, Hiragi S, Yamamoto G, Sugiyama O, Aoyama T, Kuroda T

Promoting Physical Activity in Japanese Older Adults Using a Social Pervasive Game: Randomized Controlled Trial

JMIR Serious Games 2021;9(1):e16458

DOI: 10.2196/16458

PMID: 33404507

PMCID: 7817358

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