Are exergames exercise? A scoping review of the short-term effects of exertion games
dc.contributor.author | Marshall, Joe | |
dc.contributor.author | Linehan, Conor | |
dc.contributor.funder | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council | en |
dc.date.accessioned | 2021-11-09T15:11:20Z | |
dc.date.available | 2021-11-09T15:11:20Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2020-05-18 | |
dc.date.updated | 2021-11-09T14:56:24Z | |
dc.description.abstract | Background: 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.sponsorship | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (GetAMoveOn Grant EP/N027299/1) | en |
dc.description.status | Peer reviewed | en |
dc.description.version | Accepted Version | en |
dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
dc.identifier.citation | Marshall, 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.2020.2995370 | en |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1109/TG.2020.2995370 | en |
dc.identifier.eissn | 2475-1510 | |
dc.identifier.endpage | 169 | en |
dc.identifier.issn | 2475-1502 | |
dc.identifier.issued | 2 | en |
dc.identifier.journaltitle | IEEE Transactions on Games | en |
dc.identifier.startpage | 160 | en |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10468/12176 | |
dc.identifier.volume | 13 | en |
dc.language.iso | en | en |
dc.publisher | Institute 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.subject | Exercise | en |
dc.subject | Exergame | en |
dc.subject | Exertion game | en |
dc.title | Are exergames exercise? A scoping review of the short-term effects of exertion games | en |
dc.type | Article (peer-reviewed) | en |