A Comparison of the effects of exergaming versus standard exercise on balance in health sedentary adults

Background: Exergaming is the use of computer gaming technology and virtual reality environments for exercise is an option to encourage people to exercise. Exergaming has been used clinically with positive results [1-5]. As exergaming is still a novel approach, there is a shortage of good quality evidence of its effects on balance, an outcome of functional importance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects on balance of a two-week exergaming programme compared to a standard exercise programme. Methods: Ethical clearance was granted by Teesside University (TU) School of Health and Social Care Research Governance and Ethics Committee. We tested claims that exergaming is useful for improving balance in an experimental design with a convenience sample of healthy sedentary adult participants randomised to one of two groups taking part in a two week programme of either exergaming (n=17) or standard exercise (n=16). Balance was measured with a Kistler™ force platform as the range and standard deviation of the centre of pressure (CoP) excursions in the anterior-posterior and medio-lateral directions, and the CoP velocity during both unipedal and bipedal standing. Results: Analysis of covariance (ANCOVAs) comparing the post-intervention differences between the groups, with baseline values comprising the covariate where used. An alpha level of 0.05 was used throughout and 95% confidence intervals of the differences between the groups’ post-intervention scores were calculated. Results showed statistically significant differences in the range (p <0.05) and standard deviation (p <0.01) of the anterior-posterior CoP excursion in unipedal standing between the exercise groups after intervention, with lower values in the exergaming group, indicating better postural stability. Conclusion: The results show that exercising in an exergaming environment can be more beneficial for balance training than doing the same exercise without that environment.