Currently submitted to: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: Mar 26, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 27, 2026 - May 22, 2026
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited.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.
A Gamified Mobile Application for Lung Re‑Expansion Therapy: A Preclinical User Experience Evaluation
ABSTRACT
Background:
Lung re‑expansion therapies are essential for preventing pulmonary complications but are frequently affected by low adherence due to their repetitive nature and limited supervision outside clinical settings. Gamification has shown potential to enhance engagement in rehabilitation and digital health interventions; however, its application to respiratory physiotherapy remains underexplored.
Objective:
This study evaluates user experience, enjoyment, and engagement with a gamified mobile application designed to support lung re-expansion therapy in a preclinical, non-patient setting.
Methods:
A gamified mobile application integrating a digital spirometer was developed to guide deep‑inspiration exercises through game mechanics and feedback. Twelve non‑patient users completed a structured evaluation using an adapted questionnaire derived from the Game Experience Questionnaire and Player Experience of Need Satisfaction instruments. Enjoyment‑related indicators, including engagement, perceived control, clarity of instructions, challenge, frustration, and overall experience were assessed alongside descriptive performance metrics.
Results:
Participants reported high levels of engagement, perceived performance, clarity of instructions, and overall experience, alongside low levels of stress and frustration. Correlation analyses revealed strong associations between engagement and clarity of instructions, and between perceived performance and overall experience. Qualitative feedback identified technical synchronization and customization complexity as primary sources of frustration.
Conclusions:
The gamified application delivered a positive user experience and supported key enjoyment indicators associated with engagement, thereby establishing an experiential foundation relevant to adherence in subsequent patient‑centered evaluations. This preclinical study identifies usability strengths and limitations that inform further system refinement and future patient‑centered research.
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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.