JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Beginning of 2020 the corona pandemic, led to many restrictions which affected seniors in care facilities, in form of severe isolation. The isolation led, among other things, to a lack of exercise, which leads to a multitude of negative effects for this target group. Serious Games can potentially help by being able to use them anywhere at any time to strengthen skills with few resources.

Objective:

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a Serious Games to strengthen motor skills (Study 1) and the influence of pandemic restrictions (Study 2) for seniors in care facilities.

Methods:

The data on motor skills (measured by the Tinetti test (36)), originated from an intervention study with repeated measurements that was interrupted by the pandemic conditions. Data was collected 4 times (every 3 months) with an intervention group (IG, training three times one hour per week) and the control group (CG, no intervention). There are two sub-studies. The first considers the first 6 months until the pandemic restrictions, the second considers the influence of the restrictions on the motor skills.

Results:

The sample size is n=70. The IG consists of n= 31, with 22 female and 9 male seniors with an average age of 85. The CG consists of n= 39 participants (female: 31; male: 8) with an average age of 87. Study 1: The Mixed ANOVA shows no significant interaction between the measurement times and group membership for the first measurements F(2.136) = 1.414, p <.247, partial η² = .044, but there is a significant difference between the CG (M = 16.23; SD = 1.1) and the IG (M = 19.81; SD = 1,2) at the third time of measurement p = .023. Study 2: The Mixed ANOVA used to investigate motor skills before and after the pandemic conditions between the groups did not reveal any significant interaction between the time of measurement and group membership: F(1.67) = 2.997, p <.088, partial η² = .043. However, there was a significant main effect for time of measurement F(1.67) = 5.44, p <.023, partial η² = .075.

Conclusions:

During the first six months, the IG increased their motor skills, whereas the CG deteriorated slightly, which let them differ statistically significant after 6 months. The pandemic restrictions leveled the difference and showed a significant negative effect on motor skills over the time of 3 month. As our results show, digital games have the potential to break down access barriers and promote necessary maintenance for important skills. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of low-threshold opportunities for exercise and physical activity. This potentially great benefit for the challenges of tomorrow shows the relevance of the topic and demonstrate the urgent need for action and research. Clinical Trial: DRKS00016633