Are exergames exercise? A scoping review of the short-term effects of exertion games

dc.contributor.authorMarshall, Joe
dc.contributor.authorLinehan, Conor
dc.contributor.funderEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Councilen
dc.date.accessioned2021-11-09T15:11:20Z
dc.date.available2021-11-09T15:11:20Z
dc.date.issued2020-05-18
dc.date.updated2021-11-09T14:56:24Z
dc.description.abstractBackground: Exertion games are video games that require exercise. They are widely presented as health interventions, to encourage sedentary populations to take exercise at levels recommended by health professionals. Objectives: We consider whether games encourage acute exercise at levels sufficient to engender exercise-related health benefits, and in what conditions that occurs. Methods: In this article, we performed a scoping review of empirical research that examines whether exertion game play engenders exercise, searching Google Scholar, Scopus, and PubMed. Results: From 3171 search records, we found 243 studies of acute short-term exercise in games. While some observed moderate levels of exertion, players of many games fail to meet recommended levels. Few games encouraged vigorous levels seen in sports. Variation in results for games across different studies suggests that exertion motivation is highly dependent on nongame contextual factors. There is evidence games make exercise more enjoyable or reduce perceived exertion, but many studies suffer the methodological problem of comparison with boring control conditions. Conclusions: Exergames have only been found comparable to exercise such as walking, jogging, and dancing under very specific circumstances. To improve evidence for games as exercise interventions, we must improve study designs and focus on understanding better the circumstances likely to bring about genuine exergame exercise.en
dc.description.sponsorshipEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (GetAMoveOn Grant EP/N027299/1)en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationMarshall, J. and Linehan, C. (2021) 'Are exergames exercise? A scoping review of the short-term effects of exertion games', IEEE Transactions on Games, 13(2), pp. 160-169. doi: 10.1109/TG.2020.2995370en
dc.identifier.doi10.1109/TG.2020.2995370en
dc.identifier.eissn2475-1510
dc.identifier.endpage169en
dc.identifier.issn2475-1502
dc.identifier.issued2en
dc.identifier.journaltitleIEEE Transactions on Gamesen
dc.identifier.startpage160en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/12176
dc.identifier.volume13en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)en
dc.rights© 2020, IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.en
dc.subjectExerciseen
dc.subjectExergameen
dc.subjectExertion gameen
dc.titleAre exergames exercise? A scoping review of the short-term effects of exertion gamesen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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