The effect of exergame rehabilitation on the quality of life of cancer patients undergoing abdominal surgery: a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: Exergames, which combine digital games and physical exercise, have become increasingly popular for rehabilitation in the health domain. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of exergame rehabilitation on the quality of life of cancer patients undergoing abdominal surgery.
Methods: This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness of exergame rehabilitation on the quality of life of cancer patients who had undergone abdominal surgery. Seventy postoperative patients were included, and data collection took place between January 2023 and May 2023. The patients were randomly assigned to either an exergame rehabilitation program (n = 35) or a traditional rehabilitation program (n = 35). The assessed outcome was the quality of life, and data collection occurred at three different time points: upon admission, 48 h postoperatively, and on the 7th day after surgery.
Results: Quality of life was evaluated using the WHOQOL-BREF Scale. At the third assessment, a statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups (p = 0.016), indicating that the intervention group had a higher quality of life than the control group.
Conclusions: The study showed a positive effect of exergames on the population under investigation. By the 7th day after surgery, the intervention group demonstrated an improvement in their quality of life compared to the control group.
Clinical Trial Registration: Center of Open Science OSF https://osf.io/286zb/ , registered in July, 2023.
Competing Interests: Declarations Ethics approval This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The study received approval from the Human Ethics Committee of the institution (171/2022-Ethics Committee of the Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto). Additionally, written approval was obtained from the institution’s board of directors. Conflict of interest The authors declare no competing interests.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)