Games for Health Journal最新文献

Objective: Following the initial measures taken to manage the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health conditions have become a critical concern. Mental health has become a foremost priority not only for health care providers but also for many other organizations, such as educational institutions, companies, and government agencies. A significant proportion of the Australian population having experienced mental disorders highlights the need for effective interventions. Those with pre-existing mental health issues experienced particularly pronounced effects. Among these challenges, advancements in technology offer new possibilities for mental health support. Videogames have shown effectiveness in mitigating symptoms of depression. Previous research has shown that game interface preferences correlate with players' emotional responses. This study aims to use MoodJumper, a game we designed, developed, and evaluated to examine the choice of game preferences in individuals with depressive symptoms. Materials and Methods: A pilot study was carried out after obtaining the Human Ethics committee's approval (n = 20). The participants were asked to fill out a Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) questionnaire. They then played with the MoodJumper game for 20-30 minutes. Upon completing the game session, they were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding their experience. Results: The results indicate a nonsignificant correlation between music preference, the direction of movement, and depressive symptoms meaning no significant relationship was found between depressive symptoms and chosen settings. However, a significant negative correlation was found between decision-making ability regarding game preferences and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scores showing the difficulty of choosing preferred settings when having depressive symptoms. Conclusion: This contribution paves the way for designing and evaluating more impactful game experiences for individuals with mental health challenges.

Background: Lower limb amputation is an emotionally devastating condition that causes a complete change in the quality of life, may lead to phantom limb pain in most of the cases, and puts the individual in a high risk of developing psychological disorders. The objective of this study is to evaluate the consequence of adding virtual reality (VR) to a traditional exercise program on pain, mental status, and psychological status in traumatic unilateral lower limb amputees (LLAs). Methods: Thirty-two traumatic LLAs were randomly assigned into two equal groups in this randomized control trial. Participants did accomplish a postfitting exercise program at least 6 months before enrolment; the control group (CG) underwent a traditional rehabilitation program, and experimental group (EG) had the same program, in addition to VR training. Data were collected before and after 6 weeks of intervention using visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, Beck's depression inventory (BDI) for depression, and 12-item short form survey for mental health summary (MHS) and physical health summary (PHS). Results: Thirty-two amputees (29 males and 3 females) were included with mean age in CGs and EG (27.6 ± 4) and (27.6 ± 7.6) years, respectively. Postintervention, the VAS score was significantly reduced only in EG (P = 0.003). Both groups showed significant improvement in BDI, MHS, and PHS (P < 0.05). However, the EG showed a superior significance in BDI and MHS scores (P < 0.05). There was no significance between groups in PHS score. Conclusion: Adding VR to conventional training is beneficial in decreasing pain and in improving depression and MHS of traumatic unilateral LLAs.

Objective: Falling is considered one of the major problems that may affect the elderly, leading to multiple health issues. Walking adaptability to environmental demands is essential for safe walking in the elderly. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR) treadmill training on balance performance and the risk of falls in the elderly. Materials and Methods: Sixty Saudi elderly individuals of both genders, aged between 60 and 70 years, participated in the study. The participants were categorized into two groups: the experimental and the control groups. Both groups received 1 hour of training: 30 minutes of conventional exercises and 30 minutes of gait training on the C-Mill VR/AR treadmill. The experimental group used the C-Mill treadmill with VR and AR games therapy. The control group had gait training on the C-Mill treadmill without VR and AR. The training for both groups was conducted for 6 successive weeks/three times a week. The changes in the scores of the following variables were recorded at baseline, after 6 weeks of training, and 4 weeks after the completion of training. These variables involved the time needed for completing the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, overall stability indices of the Fall Risk (FR) test and Limit of Stability (LOS) test evaluated using the Biodex Balance System (BBS), and the time required for completing the LOS test. Results: Both groups demonstrated significant improvement in all measured variables immediately post-training, and this improvement persisted for 4 weeks after completing the training. The experimental group exhibited greater improvement in the recorded values of all measured variables compared with the control group following the training. Conclusions: This study concluded that C-Mill VR/AR treadmill training is effective in improving balance control and reducing the fall risk in the elderly.

Virtual reality (VR) technology has experienced a steady rise and has been widely applied in the field of rehabilitation. The integration of VR technology in rehabilitation has shown promising results in enhancing their motivation for treatment, thereby enabling patients to actively engage in rehab training. Despite the advancement, there is a dearth of comprehensive summary and analysis on the use of VR technology to enhance patient motivation in rehabilitation. Thus, this narrative review aims to evaluate the potential of VR technology in enhancing patient motivation during motor rehabilitation training. This review commences with an explanation of how enhancing motivation through the VR rehabilitation system could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of rehabilitation training. Then, the technology was analyzed to improve patient motivation in the present VR rehabilitation system in detail. Furthermore, these technologies are classified and summarized to provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art approaches for enhancing patient motivation in VR rehabilitation. Findings showed VR rehabilitation training utilizes game-like exercises to enhance the engagement and enjoyment of rehabilitation training. By immersing patients in a simulated environment with multisensory feedback, VR systems offer a unique approach to rehabilitation that can lead to improved patient motivation. Both ultimately lead to improved patient outcomes, which is not typically achievable with traditional rehabilitation methods. The review concludes that VR rehabilitation presents an opportunity to improve patient motivation and adherence to long-term rehabilitation training. However, to further enhance patient self-efficacy, VR rehabilitation should integrate psychology and incorporate methods. Moreover, it is necessary to build a game design theory for rehabilitation games, and the latest VR feedback technology should also be introduced.

Objective: The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of video-based exercises added to conventional physiotherapy (CPT) on upper extremity functionality, selective motor control, and proprioception in individuals with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP). Materials and Methods: Thirty patients with UCP were randomized into two groups: the intervention group (15 individuals with a mean age of 9.2 ± 3.8 years) and the control group (15 individuals with a mean age of 8.3 ± 4.1 years). The intervention group received 8 weeks of video-based exercises, and the control group received 8 weeks of conventional physiotherapy. Upper extremity functional abilities, upper extremity selective motor control, proprioception, and entertainment levels were evaluated before and after the intervention for all groups. Results: While a significant change was observed in the mean scores of the ABILHAND-Kids, Selective Control of the Upper Extremity Scale right-left scores, shoulder flexion, shoulder abduction, and elbow flexion proprioception angles after the video-based exercises in the intervention group (P < 0.05), a significant change was observed only in the 60-degree flexion angle in the control group (P = 0.001). In the comparison between the groups, there were significant differences in post-intervention value only in shoulder flexion and abduction angles, whereas there was no difference between the groups in elbow flexion angles (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Incorporating video-based exercises into the upper extremity rehabilitation processes of individuals with UCP is beneficial in terms of upper extremity functionality, selective motor control, and proprioception.

Upper limb (UL) motor dysfunctions impact residual movement in hands/shoulders and limit participation in play, sports, and leisure activities. Clinical and laboratory assessments of UL movement can be time-intensive, subjective, and/or require specialized equipment and may not optimally capture a child's motor abilities. The restrictions to in-person research experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic have inspired investigators to design inclusive at-home studies with child participants and their families. Relying on the ubiquity of mobile devices, mobile health (mHealth) applications offer solutions for various clinical and research problems. This scoping review article aimed to aggregate and synthesize existing research that used health technology and mHealth approaches to evaluate and assess the hand function and UL movement in children with UL motor impairment. A scoping review based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) model was conducted in March 2023 yielding 25 articles (0.32% of 7891 studies). Assessment characteristics included game or task-based tests (13/25, 52%), primarily for neurological disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorder [ASD], dystonia, dysgraphia) or children with cerebral palsy (CP). Although several mHealth studies were conducted in the clinical environment (10/25, 40%), studies conducted at home or in nonclinical settings (15/25, 60%) reported acceptable and highly satisfactory to the patients as minimizing the potential risks in participation. Moreover, the remaining barriers to clinical translation included object manipulation on a touch screen, offline data analysis, real-world usability, and age-appropriate application design for the wider population. However, the results emphasize the exploration of mHealth over traditional approaches, enabling user-centered study design, family-oriented methods, and large-scale sampling in future research.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of nonimmersive virtual reality (VR) and task-oriented circuit training on gait, balance, cognitive domains, and quality of life among the elderly population. Methods: This is a single-blind randomized control trial in which 28 elderly individuals between 60 and 75 years were selected. The participants were divided into two groups, task-oriented circuit training and the other receiving nonimmersive VR treatment, with 14 participants in each group. To analyze the effects of both training on balance and gait time up and go test (TUGT), dynamic gait index (DGI), measures were used and for cognitive domains Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) scale was used. Short form 12 (SF-12) (along with two domains, Physical Component Summary and Mental Component Summary) was used for the measurement of quality of life. The treatment duration was 8 weeks for both groups. Both the pre-test and post-test readings were analyzed and compared. Results: The mean age of participants was 66.91 ± 3.79 years. Within-group comparison between the pre-test and post-test indicated that significant differences (P < 0.05) existed in all the outcome measures (TUGT, DGI, MoCA, and SF-12) in both groups. However, between-group comparison, significant differences were only found in TUGT and DGI in nonimmersive VR group. Conclusion: This study concluded that both interventions nonimmersive VR and task-oriented circuit training were beneficial for improving balance, gait, quality of life, and cognitive domains like memory, attention spans, executive functions, and so on in elderly population. However nonimmersive virtual reality training is a more effective, feasible, and safe alternative and can be proposed as a form of fall prevention exercise for the older adults. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05021432.

Background: Virtual reality (VR)-enhanced indoor hybrid cycling in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) can be comparable to outdoor hybrid cycling. Method: Eight individuals with chronic thoracic-lesion SCI performed voluntary arm and electrically assisted leg cycling on a hybrid recumbent tricycle. Exercises were conducted outdoors and indoors incorporating VR technology in which the outdoor environment was simulated on a large flat screen monitor. Electrical stimulation was applied bilaterally to the leg muscle groups. Oxygen uptake (VO₂), heart rate, energy expenditures, and Ratings of Perceived Exertion were measured over a 30-minute outdoor test course that was also VR-simulated indoors. Immediately after each exercise, participants completed questionnaires to document their perceptual-psychological responses. Results: Mean 30-minute VO₂ was higher for indoor VR exercise (average VO₂-indoor VR-exercise: 1316 ± mL/min vs. outdoor cycling: 1255 ± 53 mL/min; highest VO₂-indoor VR-exercise: 1615 ± 67 mL/min vs. outdoor cycling: 1725 ± 67 mL/min). Arm and leg activity counts were significantly higher during indoor VR-assisted hybrid functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling than outdoors; 42% greater for the arms and 23% higher for the legs (P < 0.05). Similar responses were reported for exercise effort and perceptual-psychological outcomes during both modes. Conclusion: This study proposes that combining FES and VR technology provides new opportunities for physical activity promotion or exercise rehabilitation in the SCI population, since these modes have similar "dose-potency" and self-perceived effort. Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Sydney Ref. No. 01-2010/12385.

Introduction: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a nonprogressive neuropathological condition that requires lifelong neurocognitive-motor rehabilitation. Evidences indicate that the use of new technologies to assist in rehabilitation processes, such as serious games in virtual reality (VR), have served as adjuncts to therapy and capable of promoting engagement, motivation, and motor activation for these patients. Objective: To investigate the usability of a serious game in VR to help with the stability and balance of the head and trunk of children with CP, focusing on the perception and experience of health professionals. Methods: The collection was carried out with health professionals, and the results were comprehensively evaluated through viability by means of the total score, number of correct answers, number of errors, and level of difficulty during the execution of the game, which were collected from the performance report generated by the application. System satisfaction was also verified by the System Usability Scale (SUS). Results: The mean obtained from the total score of the SUS was 82.10 ± 12.66 points, being considered of high usability for the suggested purpose. The professionals' opinion about the usability of the system did not change due to the performance during the game. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that the developed rehabilitation program has successfully delivered the experience to exercise the head control and trunk balance of subjects with CP.

Objective: Emotional problems in the youth population are a major issue that can have a significant negative impact for their future development as adults. Their emotion regulation (ER) abilities represent a preventive measure for those emotional problems. REThink is an online therapeutic game that was proved to be effective in rigorous studies, and is based on the rational emotive behavioral therapy, with seven levels built to train various emotional regulation skills. Each level has a section that can be used for the assessment of the targeted skills within the level. The present study aimed at investigating the reliability and validity of the evaluation modules from the REThink game regarding the assessment of ER abilities in children/adolescents. Methods: In accordance with established guidelines, 110 children and adolescents aged 8-14 years old were recruited. Following parental informed consent, the participants filled out the standard questionnaires and, subsequently, they played the evaluation module of the REThink game. The reliability aspect was investigated by evaluating internal consistency, while validity was evaluated by using concurrent and predictive validity analyses. Results: The results revealed statistically significant positive associations between the game scores obtained by the participants and the emotion regulation scale. In terms of predictive validity, there were significant negative associations between game scores and the presence of emotional and behavioral problems. Moreover, in terms of the reliability of the REThink game, an acceptable value for the internal consistency was observed. Conclusion: In conclusion, the REThink therapeutic game was proved to be a valid measure for assessing emotion regulation abilities in children and adolescents. Clinical Trial Registration No. NCT04788901.