Safety, compliance, and efficacy of newly developed videogame based exercises using wearable sensors for aged people

Abstract

Videogame based exercise, namely exergame, is an innovative approach to enhance physical activity in the elderly. This study was done to evaluate the safety, compliance, adherence and efficacy of exergames using wearable sensors. Sixty aged people (77.5 ± 6.4 years) played 3 exergames including abdominal bracing, Q-setting and balance training games for 12 weeks. Wearable pressure sensors were applied on the abdominal and quadriceps muscles and magnetic sensors under the soles to monitor accuracy and intensity of targeted activities. Safety and compliance were assessed by dropout ratio and personal interviews. Adherence to progression of sessions was measured by calculating total exertional index, the duration of exertional pressure or step-on status, and compared between the earlier and later weeks. A simplified frailty screening battery was devised to measure skeletal muscle mass, grip strength, walking speed, unipedal stance test and short geriatric depression scale before and after the exercise program. Fifty-four participants completed. Dropout reaseons were lack of time (4), ankle fracture by unrelated activity (1) and fear of aggravating pre-existing sciatica (1). 14.8% and 5.6% of participants complained of leg pain and difficulty in exercising, respectively. The total exertional indices were significantly increased in the later phase of sessions, showing 35.9 ± 23.9 kPa·min vs 41.6 ± 28.0 kPa·min ( P = 0.013), 129.5 ± 76.5 kPa·min vs 147.4 ± 81.2 kPa·min ( P = 0.040), and 12.1 ± 3.0 vs 13.1 ± 2.6 steps ( P = 0.018) for abdominal bracing, Q-setting and balance training games, respectively. There were statistically significant improvements in skeletal muscle index (33.7 ± 3.7% vs 34.4 ± 4.1%, P = 0.004), grip strength (20.0 ± 5.6 kgf vs 21.5 ± 5.5 kgf, P = 0.000), walking speed (0.89 ± 0.19 m/s vs 1.26 ± 0.19 m/s, P = 0.000), and balance ability (10.8 ± 7.6 s vs 15.4 ± 9.8 s, P = 0.000) after the exercises. This study demonstrates that three exergames developed in this study can be safely done with high compliance for 12 weeks, improving skeletal muscle mass, muscle strength, function and balance.