1. Exergaming as an Additional Tool in Rehabilitation of Young Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
- Author
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Ambrosino P, Iannuzzi GL, Formisano R, Spedicato GA, D'Abrosca V, Di Gioia L, Di Minno MND, and Pappone N
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Arthritis, Rheumatoid psychology, Female, Humans, Male, Physical Therapy Modalities standards, Physical Therapy Modalities statistics & numerical data, Pilot Projects, Quality of Life psychology, Arthritis, Rheumatoid rehabilitation, Exercise psychology, Games, Recreational psychology
- Abstract
Objective: To assess the effectiveness of home videogame-based exercise (exergaming) as an additional rehabilitative tool in young patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Materials and Methods: After a baseline (T0) evaluation, 40 RA inpatients (18-35 years of age) underwent both a 4-week-lasting traditional rehabilitation program and a training by Nintendo
® Wii-Fit™ videogame system. At discharge (T1), subjects were randomly assigned (1:1) to two groups: Group A (experimental group), including subjects who continued Wii-Fit training at home for additional 8 weeks, and Group B (control group), including subjects maintaining their habitual activity during the 8-week follow-up (T2). Measures of disease activity, quality of life, and fatigue were evaluated at each time point. Results: From T0 to T1, a significant improvement in most evaluated outcomes was reported in both study groups. At T2 assessment, only Group A patients experienced a significant improvement of quality of life and fatigue, with a 13.4% reduction in Global Health (GH) values, only a slight increase (4.2%) in Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score, and a 19.1% Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) improvement as compared with T1. In contrast, Group B patients reported a 65.8% increase in GH values, a 33% increase in HAQ score, and a 53.4% reduction in FACIT values from T1 to T2. The extended videogame-based home training was an independent predictor of Δ%GH ( β = 0.851; P < 0.001), Δ%HAQ ( β = 0.542; P < 0.001), and Δ%FACIT ( β = -0.505; P < 0.001). Conclusions: Home exergaming may be an effective additional rehabilitative tool in RA, since it allows to maintain the benefits of traditional multidisciplinary rehabilitation.- Published
- 2020
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