Abstract
BackgroundIn recent years, there has been an increase in the number of students with depression, anxiety, and perceived stress. A solution that has been increasingly used for improving health and well-being is exergaming. The effects and acceptability of exergames have been studied widely but mostly with older adults. The feasibility and usability of exergames among university students, especially those of immersive virtual reality (iVR) exergames, remain unexplored.ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the feasibility of a 6-week iVR exergame–based intervention in reducing anxiety, depression, and perceived stress among university students and to examine the usability and acceptability of such games.MethodsA total of 31 university students were recruited to participate in a 6-week study in which they needed to play a boxing-style iVR exergame called FitXR (FitXR Limited) twice per week (30 minutes per session). Their anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory), depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II), and perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale) levels were measured before and after intervention.ResultsA total of 15 participants completed the 6-week study. Our results suggested that participants’ mean depression scores decreased significantly from 8.33 (SD 5.98) to 5.40 (SD 5.14) after the intervention (P=.01). In addition, most participants (14/15, 93%) believed that the iVR exergame has good usability. Furthermore, most participants (14/15, 93%) were satisfied with the iVR gameplay experience and would play the iVR exergame again in the future. Of the 15 participants, 11 (73%) would recommend the iVR exergame to their friends.ConclusionsThe results gained from this study show that the iVR exergame has good usability, is highly acceptable, and has the potential to reduce depression levels among university students.
Highlights
IntroductionBackgroundThere is growing evidence that the number of university students who are struggling with mental health problems is increasing globally (eg, in North America [1], Japan [2], and the United Kingdom [3])
BackgroundThere is growing evidence that the number of university students who are struggling with mental health problems is increasing globally
Participants first completed an in-person consent form. They needed to fill in the preexperiment questionnaire, which was used to collect their demographic information and anxiety, depression, and perceived stress baselines
Summary
BackgroundThere is growing evidence that the number of university students who are struggling with mental health problems is increasing globally (eg, in North America [1], Japan [2], and the United Kingdom [3]). Methods: A total of 31 university students were recruited to participate in a 6-week study in which they needed to play a boxing-style iVR exergame called FitXR (FitXR Limited) twice per week (30 minutes per session). Their anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory), depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II), and perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale) levels were measured before and after intervention. Conclusions: The results gained from this study show that the iVR exergame has good usability, is highly acceptable, and has the potential to reduce depression levels among university students
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