Effects of Exergames on Physical Fitness in Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Taiwan

Abstract

Using exergaming for exercise training was found to improve physical fitness. Yet, few studies have used the “Xbox Kinect” to examine its effects on physical fitness in healthy middle-aged and older adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 10-weeks of Xbox Kinect training on physical fitness in healthy middle-aged and older adults. Forty participants (average 64.00 ± 4.44 years old, eight males and 32 females) were randomized to either intervention (n = 20) or control group (n = 20). The intervention group played Xbox Kinect three times per week, for an average of 50 min per session for 10 weeks. The control group was instructed to maintain their levels of physical activity. All the participants completed assessments of body composition, muscle strength, flexibility, balance and cardiopulmonary endurance at baseline and after 10-week intervention. After 10 weeks of training, the intervention group showed significant improvements in cardiopulmonary endurance and leg muscle strength. Moreover, there were significant differences between the intervention and control group in changes in aerobic fitness and leg muscle strength. The exergame program effectively improved cardiopulmonary endurance and leg muscle strength in healthy middle-aged and older adults. It could be an alternative to conventional exercise.

The effects of exergames on muscle strength: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…After reading full‐text copies, 101 studies were excluded from this review due to the following reasons: (i) two studies applied an acute intervention; (ii) one study used a non‐validated method for strength assessment; (iii) 45 studies did not apply an exergame intervention; (iv) four studies did not apply any intervention; (v) 39 studies did not measure muscle strength according to the criteria adopted in this review; and (vi) 11 studies applied combined interventions. At the end of the process, 47 publications meeting the eligibility criteria were included for qualitative analysis 31‐46,58‐88 . Eleven 63,68,72,73,78‐80,83,86‐88 of these 47 studies applied a study design that did not allow for the comparison of exergames versus a non‐exercise control group, or exergames versus a usual care intervention, or a usual care plus exergames versus a usual care intervention.…”

“…Only one study 41 of those comparing exergames versus a non‐exercise control group measured leg press MVIC; only one study 44 of those comparing exergames versus a usual care intervention measured ankle joint isokinetic muscle strength; and only one study 71 of those comparing a usual care plus exergames versus a usual care intervention measured shoulder joint isometric muscle strength. Furthermore, four 35,36,39,76 of the 28 remaining studies 31‐40,42,46,59,61,62,64‐67,69,74‐77,81,82,84,85 provided insufficient data for the quantitative analysis and 14 studies 33,37,38,40,42,46,62,64,66,67,75,77,82,84 did not report MD and SD MD data. For this reason, the corresponding authors were contacted via email; however, only two 36,62 of the corresponding authors responded to our request, and one 46 informed us that the data were not kept as the study was closed.…”

“…For this reason, the corresponding authors were contacted via email; however, only two 36,62 of the corresponding authors responded to our request, and one 46 informed us that the data were not kept as the study was closed. For this reason, we calculated MD and SD MD values for the 13 studies 33,37,38,40,42,46,64,66,67,75,77,82,84 that did not report these data, and added these studies to the 12 studies 31,32,34,59,61,62,65,69,74,81,85 which reported/sent MD and SD MD values. Therefore, 25 studies 31‐34,36‐38,40,42,46,59,61,62,64‐67,69,74,75,77,81,82,84,85 were included in the meta‐analysis (seven studies 34,36,37,40,62,67,77 comparing exergames versus a non‐exercise control group, 15 studies 31,32,38,42,46,59,64,66,69,74,75,81,82,84,85 comparing exergames versus a usual care intervention, one study 33 comparing exergames versus both a non‐exercise control group and a usual care intervention, and two studies 61,65 comparing a usual care plus exergames versus usual care intervention) (Figure 1).…”

“…However, the chronic effect of exergames on muscle strength in healthy and unhealthy individuals is controversial and has not yet been elucidated 31‐33 . For example, Gallo et al, 34 Ordnung et al, 35 Tripette et al, 36 and Yu et al 37 did not find significant differences in handgrip strength when comparing a chronic exergames intervention to that of a non‐exercise control group in older women, older adults, postpartum women, or healthy middle‐aged/older adults, respectively. Conversely, Htut et al 33 found that exergames significantly increased handgrip strength in older adults when compared to a non‐exercise control group.…”

Association of Physical Fitness Performance Tests and Anthropometric Indices in Taiwanese Adults

“…Ninety-two individuals were unable to complete the tests. We divided all participants into five groups according to their age: Group 1 (23-30 years), Group 2 (31-40 years), Group 3 (41-50 years), Group 4 (51-60 years), and Group 5 (61-64 years) (Yu et al, 2020). All participants performed tests of physical fitness performance, including abdominal muscular endurance (60-s sit-up test), flexibility (sit-and-reach test), and cardiorespiratory endurance (3-min step test).…”