Exergaming Experience of Older People With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

Chronic musculoskeletal pain is debilitating and can lower the quality of life in older people. Therapeutic benefits have been reported from exergaming used as an intervention for rehabilitation or alternative to exercise. This study investigated the effects of exergaming in comparison with those of standard exercise on pain, postural control, technology acceptance and flow experience in older people with musculoskeletal pain.

Study design: A prospective, randomized, controlled two-arm trial design: Group 1) exergaming with the Interactive Rehabilitation and Exercise System (IREX®) and Group 2) traditional gym-based exercise (TGB).

Ethical Approval was sought from and granted by the School of Health and Social Care Research Governance and Ethics Committee at Teesside University on 20th September 2010 The study was conducted in the Physiotherapy Research Laboratory, Constantine Building, Teesside University.

Participants were recruited by non-direct contacts from nine local community groups in the Middlesbrough area.

Sixty-one potential participants were screened for eligibility. Four were excluded due to not meeting the eligibility criteria and three did not attend scheduled sessions. Fifty-four (42 females and 12 males, age: 71 ± 5 years) were allocated to either exergaming with the IREX™ (n = 27) or TGB (n = 27).

Procedure

On arrival for data collection at the Physiotherapy Research Laboratory at Teesside University, participants were asked if they had further questions about the study. These questions, if any, were answered. The study Consent Form was then signed. Participants' demographic details and all outcome measures were recorded, after which the participants were randomised by stratified blind-card allocation (picking a sealed opaque envelope).

Data extraction

Range and Standard Deviation (SD) of Centre of Pressure (CoP) displacements in the anterior-posterior (AP) and medio-lateral (ML) directions (CoPAP SD, CoPAP range, CoPML SD, CoPML range - all mm) and the resultant CoP velocity (mm.sec-1) were extracted from the force platform using Bioware software (Kistler™), after low-pass filtering of the raw data at 10 Hz. CoP velocity (mm.sec-1) was calculated.

Statistical analysis

Data was analysed with Version 19 of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, Chicago, Illinois, USA). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to assess between-group final scores for each outcome measure used with baseline scores as covariate. Variables that did not meet the assumption of homogeneity of variance were analysed by two-way independent measures ANOVA with blocking using mean splits of scored pre-measures. Mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine any within-subject changes over time. All analyses used a significance level of 0.05. The effect size measure epsilon squared was used, where values of 0.01, 0.06 and 0.14 were interpreted as small, moderate and large.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* male or female
* aged 65 years or over
* able to walk unassisted (i.e. did not use, or require, any walking aids) for at least 0.5 of a mile
* having musculoskeletal pain in two or more joints, of more than 12 weeks duration

Exclusion Criteria:

* diagnosis (or suspicion) of any systemic conditions that may cause pain in two or more joints
* of more than 12 weeks duration (such as cancer, rheumatic or neurological disease or condition)
* self-report of current (or history) of any condition or injury which would contra- indicate participation in the exercises under study
* inability (or any doubt of ability) to give informed consent
* inability to read and write English