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

Tzu-Cheng Yu,Pei-Tzu Wu,Che-Hsien Chiang,Wen-Lan Wu,I-Hua Chu

doi:10.3390/ijerph17072565

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.

Highlights

Health status declines with age [1,2], studies have found that improvement of physical fitness in the elderly can benefit overall physical function [3]
No significant difference in participant’s characteristics was observed at pre-test between the exergame group (EX) and control group (CON) groups (Table 1)
Kinect exergame training effectively improved the physical activity level, cardiopulmonary endurance and leg strength of healthy middle-aged and older adults, no significant effect was observed on BMI, body fat, grip strength, flexibility, and balance ability

Summary

Introduction

Health status declines with age [1,2], studies have found that improvement of physical fitness in the elderly can benefit overall physical function [3]. PlayStation), most studies were conducted using the Nintendo Wii. the Nintendo Wii requires a handheld device to play which may have limited the players’ physical performance. The Microsoft Xbox Kinect, on the other hand, does not require any handheld device to connect to the video games. Players can play video games through their body movements, such as jumping, squatting, running in place and side stepping [5]. Studies have suggested that players using the Microsoft Xbox Kinect can achieve light to moderate intensity of exercise [6,7]. Public Health 2020, 17, 2565; doi:10.3390/ijerph17072565 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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