Older Adults’ Physical Activity and Exergames: A Systematic Review
Publication: Kappen, D. L., Mirza-Babaei, P., & Nacke, L. E. (2018). Older Adults’ Physical Activity and Exergames: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 0(0), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2018.1441253
An illustrated review of exergaming dates the advent of this concept of exergaming to 1982, with the introduction of the Atari-Joyboard (Johnson, 2008), which was a simple four-switch balance board controller for the Atari 2600. An early definition combining physical activity and games postulated that physical activity must actually influence the game outcome by the use of motor skills in pursuit of a pre-lusory goal of the game (Vossen, 2004). While the concept of fitness gaming has been around since the introduction of the ‘Foot Craz’, a pad controller for the Atari 2600, in 1989 (Bogost & Montfort, 2009), ‘exergaming’ as a term representing a genre of gaming for fitness is a relatively new area of research which has gained in popularity over the past few years. A simplified definition of exergaming is ‘the use of videogames in an exercise activity’ (Sinclair, Hingston, & Masek, 2007).
Inconsistencies in the use of terminologies and uncertainty over definitions of what constitutes the ‘combination of physical activity and gaming’ among health-related researchers and non-health-related researchers have been tabulated (Oh & Yang, 2010). This tabulation helped to redefine exergames to be ‘a combination of exertion and videogames incorporating strength training, balance and flexibility activities.’ The authors also challenged usage of the term ‘exercise’ in the exergame definition because of the inherently repetitive nature of the exercise activity, whereas a physical activity could also be performed for its experiential nature. This definition helped to extend exergaming to the domain of experiential physical activities. The following terminologies have been used by researchers to categorize games that involve physical activity, fun, and exercise: active-play video games (Lieberman et al., 2011), game-based exercising (Silva & Saddik, 2011), exer-gaming (Mackenzie, 2006), exertion games (Mueller, Agamanolis, Vetere, & Gibbs, 2009), active gaming (Mears & Hansen, 2009), health games (Kharrazi, Lu, Gharghabi, & Coleman, 2012), active video games (Altamimi & Skinner, 2012), embodied interactive video games (Hwang, Hong, Jong, & Lee, 2009), interactive computer games (Bleakley et al., 2015). While many terms for the combination of physical activity and gaming technologies have been indicated above, we define exergaming within this review as: ‘the combination of gaming technologies and exercise routines to motivate physical activity among individuals or groups’.
From an older adult’s perspective, the degree of difficulty in engaging in a physical activity is determined by their age-related impairments (decreased motor skills, balance issues, poor posture) and health-related challenges (coronary disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, emotional loneliness, minimized cognitive functions). Taking into account these age-related impairments, a context-aware adaptive game engine (Silva & Saddik, 2011) that is flexible enough to accommodate the needs of older adults and adapt to the users’ exertion capabilities is highly desirable. Our systematic review investigates the relevance of exergames to the domain of older adults’ physical activity with a health and wellness focus. To relate older adults and their attitudes to a physical activity we investigate studies that have used exergaming as interventions for physical and cognitive training, rehabilitation, and, improving health and wellness.
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