A Video Game Improves Behavioral Outcomes in Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer: A Randomized Trial

Abstract

The video-game intervention significantly improved treatment adherence and indicators of cancer-related self-efficacy and knowledge in adolescents and young adults who were undergoing cancer therapy. The findings support current efforts to develop effective video-game interventions for education and training in health care.

The benefits of playing video games.

“…Perhaps the most celebrated success story of a game that had a significant impact on health-related behaviors is the case of Re-Mission (Kato, Cole, Bradlyn, & Pollock, 2008), a video game designed for child cancer patients. By allowing the player to control a nanobot who shoots cancer cells, overcomes bacterial infections, and manages signs of nausea and constipation (common barriers to cancer patients' treatment adherence), the game aimed to teach children how best to adhere to their cancer treatments.…”

“…By allowing the player to control a nanobot who shoots cancer cells, overcomes bacterial infections, and manages signs of nausea and constipation (common barriers to cancer patients' treatment adherence), the game aimed to teach children how best to adhere to their cancer treatments. A randomized controlled study conducted internationally in 34 medical centers compared children assigned to play Re-Mission to a control group of children playing another computer game (Kato et al, 2008). Adherence to treatment protocol, self-efficacy, and cancer-related knowledge were all significantly greater in the intervention group.…”

Designing and Evaluating Casual Health Games for Children and Teenagers with Cancer

“…Currently, a wide range of games for health focuses on learning and distraction, frequently dealing with chronic conditions, for instance diabetes and asthma [4,21] or severe illness such as cancer [17]. Furthermore, certain health games address the issue of disease prevention [9].…”

“…Popular examples of clinically tested and commercially available health games are Packy & Marlon, a game which addresses diabetes [4], and Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus, which conveys information about asthma during play [21]. Another clinically evaluated game that directly focuses on cancer and which improves the patients' adherence to medication plans and perceived self-efficacy is the action game Re-Mission [17]: The player enters the game world as nanobot which fights the disease from within young patients' bodies. The game aims to convey basic information about common cancer symptoms and treatment strategies through game mechanics, e.g.…”

“…In the context of designing games for hea r healthy behavior and to inform players, or to improve gthening self esteem and perceived self-efficacy [11,17] casual games with a serious background, an integration h as disease-related information as well as main feature ssibility, flexibility and learnability has been claimed to also be applied to the design of games for health.…”