Kinect-based exergaming to improve frailty status and physical performances in the frail and pre frail elderly

Abstract

Frailty is a multisystem degeneration. It is becoming recognized that frailty may be a pre-disability state. Exercise training is proved to improve physical performance and health status in the elderly. Kinect is an affordable and accessible exergaming systems. Whether Kinect-based exergaming is efficient in improving physical performances and reverse the deterioration process in frail and pre-frail elderly require further investigation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Kinect-based exergaming on frailty status, physical performances in pre-frail and frail elderly. We recruited frail and pre-frail elderly people in the elderly day care centers and institutions. Participants were randomized to two group and received 60 minutes Kinect-based exergaming or multi-component exercise for 36 sessions over 12 weeks according to their group assignment. Programs in both groups include muscle strengthening, aerobic exercise, balance training and cognitive training. Outcome measures include frailty status and physical performances. Fifty-two pre-frail and frail elderly finished all the intervention and assessment. Both groups showed improvements in frailty scores after intervention. The frailty components revealed that weakness, exhaustion, low physical activity, and slow walking speed were reversed in both group, but unintentional weight loss did not significantly changed. Both groups also showed improvements in most parts of the physical performances after intervention. For between group differences, Kinect-based exergaming group showed more improvement in forward reaching distance than multi-component exercise group. Kinect-based exergaming can reverse the frailty status and improve physical performances. Our results provided information to support the possibility of therapeutic use of exergaming training in the frail and pre-frail elderly.