Active Video Game Exercise Training Improves the Clinical Control of Asthma in Children: Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of the present study was to determine whether aerobic exercise involving an active video game system improved asthma control, airway inflammation and exercise capacity in children with moderate to severe asthma.DesignA randomized, controlled, single-blinded clinical trial was carried out. Thirty-six children with moderate to severe asthma were randomly allocated to either a video game group (VGG; N = 20) or a treadmill group (TG; n = 16). Both groups completed an eight-week supervised program with two weekly 40-minute sessions. Pre-training and post-training evaluations involved the Asthma Control Questionnaire, exhaled nitric oxide levels (FeNO), maximum exercise testing (Bruce protocol) and lung function.ResultsNo differences between the VGG and TG were found at the baseline. Improvements occurred in both groups with regard to asthma control and exercise capacity. Moreover, a significant reduction in FeNO was found in the VGG (p < 0.05). Although the mean energy expenditure at rest and during exercise training was similar for both groups, the maximum energy expenditure was higher in the VGG.ConclusionThe present findings strongly suggest that aerobic training promoted by an active video game had a positive impact on children with asthma in terms of clinical control, improvementin their exercise capacity and a reductionin pulmonary inflammation.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT01438294

Active Video Games for Rehabilitation in Respiratory Conditions: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Preprint)

“…Sample sizes ranged from a small observational study of 7 to larger studies with 40 participants (parallel-groups design), 30 participants (crossover-trial) and 32 participants (observational study [28,58,61]. Only one study reported the testing of custom-designed hardware and games for respiratory conditions [55].…”

“…Four of 12 included studies reported randomised studies examining the longer-term effects of AVGs versus traditional training in respiratory conditions [55,57,61,63]. One examined the effect of AVGs versus treadmill training in asthma, with training sessions twice a week over eight weeks [61].…”

“…One examined the effect of AVGs versus treadmill training in asthma, with training sessions twice a week over eight weeks [61]. Another examined the effect of AVGs in combination with usual pulmonary rehabilitation compared to usual pulmonary rehabilitation alone, with three weeks of pulmonary rehabilitation in both groups but one week of AVGs in the final week of the experimental group [63].…”

“…For most of these the active video game was compared to traditional exercises [27][28][29]61], though some compared AVGs to maximal [58] or submaximal exercise tests [56].…”

“…Due to the nature of the intervention, no study blinded participants to treatment and only three blinded those assessing all outcome measures [55,57,61]. Additionally, none attempted to demonstrate their participants were representative of the population or recruited their participants randomly.…”