Previously submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research (no longer under consideration since Mar 24, 2026)
Date Submitted: Nov 28, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Dec 1, 2025 - Jan 26, 2026
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
NOTE: This is an unreviewed Preprint
Warning: This is a unreviewed preprint (What is a preprint?). Readers are warned that the document has not been peer-reviewed by expert/patient reviewers or an academic editor, may contain misleading claims, and is likely to undergo changes before final publication, if accepted, or may have been rejected/withdrawn (a note "no longer under consideration" will appear above).
Peer review me: Readers with interest and expertise are encouraged to sign up as peer-reviewer, if the paper is within an open peer-review period (in this case, a "Peer Review Me" button to sign up as reviewer is displayed above). All preprints currently open for review are listed here. Outside of the formal open peer-review period we encourage you to tweet about the preprint.
Citation: Please cite this preprint only for review purposes or for grant applications and CVs (if you are the author).
Final version: If our system detects a final peer-reviewed "version of record" (VoR) published in any journal, a link to that VoR will appear below. Readers are then encourage to cite the VoR instead of this preprint.
Settings: If you are the author, you can login and change the preprint display settings, but the preprint URL/DOI is supposed to be stable and citable, so it should not be removed once posted.
Submit: To post your own preprint, simply submit to any JMIR journal, and choose the appropriate settings to expose your submitted version as preprint.
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Impact of Exergame and Ice Therapy on Treating Obese Gout Individuals: A Randomized Controlled Trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Exercise-induced reductions in body mass index (BMI) have been shown to lower serum uric acid (SUA) levels and mitigate cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in obese individuals with gout. However, poor exercise adherence remains a major barrier. Therefore, developing engaging and effective interventions to promote long-term adherence is essential.
Objective:
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a novel intervention combining exergames with ice therapy on BMI, pain, quality of life, SUA levels, kinesiophobia, and psychological well-being in obese patients with gout.
Methods:
In this randomized controlled trial, 28 obese gout patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to either an exergames-only group (E group) or an exergames plus ice therapy group (E+I group). Both groups underwent a 4-week intervention, performed 3–5 times per week. Assessments were conducted at baseline (week 0), post-intervention (week 4), and follow-up (week 12). Primary outcomes included BMI, SUA, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and blood pressure. Secondary outcomes included fasting blood glucose, lipid profiles (TC, TG, HDL, LDL), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores, the Gout Impact Scale (GIS), the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK), and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS).
Results:
Both groups demonstrated significant improvements in weight, BMI, WC, blood pressure, and psychological outcomes (p < 0.05). The E+I group exhibited greater improvements in quality of life, positive affect, and reduction of kinesiophobia compared to the E group (p < 0.05). However, no significant changes were observed in biochemical markers such as SUA, fasting glucose, or lipid profiles (p > 0.05).
Conclusions:
Both exergames alone and in combination with ice therapy improved body composition, blood pressure, and psychological well-being in obese patients with gout. The combined intervention may offer additional benefits, particularly in enhancing emotional health and reducing movement-related fear, thus supporting its potential for broader clinical application. Clinical Trial: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2300070029). Registered on 31 March 2023.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.