Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: Feb 13, 2024
Date Accepted: Sep 23, 2024
Young people-assisted, individualized motion-based video games on physical, cognitive, and social frailty among frail community-dwelling older adults: A randomized controlled trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Motion-based video games have demonstrated effectiveness in promoting physical fitness among adolescents and the working population. However, community-dwelling older adults often lack eHealth literacy and knowledge about these games, resulting in limited access to these services.
Objective:
This study aimed to provide individualized motion-based video games, assisted by young volunteers, to promote physical, cognitive, and social well-being among older adults.
Methods:
A total of 202 older adults from six community centers were recruited and randomly assigned to either the intervention group (n=101) or the control group (n=101). The intervention group received an 18-week program consisting of 12 supervised exercise sessions, developed by occupational therapists and assisted by youth volunteers. Occupational therapists conducted comprehensive assessments and created individualized game plans for participants, guided by the Person-Environment-Occupation model. The trained youth volunteers provided technical and social support. Pre- and post-program measurements were taken for physical frailty outcomes (balance, handgrip strength, blood pressure, body mass index [BMI]), cognitive frailty outcomes (cognition, short-term memory), social frailty outcomes (loneliness, social isolation), and client outcomes (physical activities, quality of life, depression, self-efficacy, social connectedness, eHealth literacy).
Results:
The results showed statistically significant improvements in BMI and cognition between the two groups. Within the intervention group, statistically significant improvements were observed in loneliness, balance, eHealth literacy, and social isolation. However, these improvements were not statistically significant when comparing the intervention and control groups.
Conclusions:
The motion-based gaming intervention, with the additional support of younger volunteers, demonstrated limited benefits for older adults. Therefore, the inclusion of volunteer support should be considered on a case-by-case basis rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. Clinical Trial: This study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (identifier: NCT05267444) on February 24, 2022 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05267444).
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