Efficacy of Bingocize^®: A Game-Centered Mobile Application to Improve Physical and Cognitive Performance in Older Adults

Abstract

Our findings suggest that the fun and interactive nature of Bingocize engenders high levels of adherence to a health-promoting program in a difficult to serve population, serving as a conduit to potentially improve multiple aspects of quality of life for older adults.

Assessing the Impact of a Game-Centered Mobile App on Community-Dwelling Older Adults’ Health Activation

“…In this investigation, the main focus of the health topics (osteoarthritis and falls prevention) in both conditions was not increasing physical activity. Yet, even more surprising was the fact both groups improved chair stand performance (a test of lower body strength) at the end of the intervention (Shake et al, 2018). We speculate because Bingocize ® is game-centered and interactive, the older adults were motivated to increase their physical activity levels outside of the intervention.…”

“…The PAM-10 includes 10 items which are scored (0-100 scale) and then used to categorize an individual on a continuum ranging from level 1 (lowest) to level 4 (highest) in terms of health activation. Additional physical and cognitive performance tests were also administered; details about those tests can be found in Shake et al [18].…”

“…The gameplay and design of the Bingocize ® app has been described in several previous studies, and so will not be repeated here in detail [18]. The data collected for the present manuscript were part of a larger investigation described elsewhere [18].…”

“…Bingocize® socially engages users in a bingo-like game that can be modified to deliver exercise or health education (unimodal) or a combination of the two (multimodal). Bingocize® was shown in recent studies to lead to increased knowledge of health topics (osteoarthritis, falls risk reduction) and to engender a variety of positive health benefits among populations of sedentary, community-dwelling older adults [18]. Osteoarthritis was a focus of the health education component of the previous investigation because it is the leading cause of chronic disability in the developed world [19].…”

Health Gain, Cost Impacts, and Cost-Effectiveness of a Mass Media Campaign to Promote Smartphone Apps for Physical Activity: Modeling Study

“…There was insufficient information in the sources of parameter estimates to suggest differences in intervention impacts by age, sex, or ethnicity. Previous research has shown [35] and different ethnic groups [36]. However, if certain population groups are more or less likely to respond to the intervention, then this would influence the overall effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.…”