Can Entertaining Action-video Games Enhance Dynamic Visual Function and Improve Balance? A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Can Entertaining Action-video Games Enhance Dynamic Visual Functions and Improve Balance? A Randomized Controlled Trial.

This project is aimed to find out whether action video games can enhance dynamic visual function and improve balance function in the community-dwelling older adults. It is also aimed to examine the relationship between dynamic visions and balance functions.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Vision, Balance and Falls in Older Adults
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Control; Behavioral: Slow-paced action video game; Behavioral: Fast-paced action video game

Detailed Description

Balance control is an important component even in a very simple daily task like walking. However, as we age, our physical and visual function would gradually deteriorate even in the absence of health or eye problems. Improving elderly balance control through different training is one way to prevent falls. In our project, we investigate the use of action video games, which is easy-to-find and entertaining, as a visual function trainer to improve balance of older adults.

We hypothesize that the training would show an improvement in both balance and dynamic vision. Our primary hypothesis is that postural sway in static and dynamic balance measures will improve after action video-game intervention. For secondary outcome measures, we hypothesize that the training will improve dynamic visual function (as measured by dynamic visual acuity and dynamic contrast sensitivity), and visual attention measures (as measured by useful field of view, multiple object tracking and spatial attention).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 160
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Hong Kong, China
    • Allen MY Cheong

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 60 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Ability to understand and speak Cantonese
• No formal training or regular practice of balance function (e.g. Tai-chi)
• Little and preferably no video-game experience
• Best corrected distance acuity of 0.2 logMAR or better

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any diagnosed ocular diseases and ocular-motor abnormalities
• Suffering form severe medical problems or self reported neurological or cognitive disorders
• Suffering from physical impairments or physical limitations restricting them from training
• Having self reported vestibular or cerebellar dysfunction, history of vertigo or severe hearing loss
• Suffering from crippling arthritis, or a recent fracture of lower limb
• Planned major surgery during the trial

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Control Group; Receive leisure activities (e.g. reading, web-surfing, playing chess/ Mahjong) Twenty hours (2-3 sessions per week, 1.5 hours per session)	Behavioral: Control; 20 hours leisure activities
Active Comparator: Intervention Group 1; Receive slow motion Nintendo Wii video games Twenty hours ( 2-3 sessions per week, 1.5 hours per session)	Behavioral: Slow-paced action video game; 20 hours slow-paced action video games
Active Comparator: Intervention Group 2; Receive fast motion Nintendo Wii video games (e.g. shooting game) Twenty hours ( 2-3 sessions per week, 1.5 hours per session)	Behavioral: Fast-paced action video game; 20 hours fast-paced action video games

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Static and dynamic postural sway on forced platform	Static Balance - postural sway when standing on firm or foam surface.; Dynamic Balance:Limits of stability (LOS)Sequential weight shifting test (SWS)	Change from baseline at week 8 and change from baseline at week 16

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Grating visual acuity at different moving speeds	Dynamic visual function measure - Grating visual acuity is measured with different moving speeds	Change from baseline at week 8 and change from baseline at week 16
Useful Field of View (UFOV)	One of the visual attention measures - Useful Field of View (UFOV)	Change from baseline at week 8 and change from baseline at week 16
Multiple tracking objects (MOT)	One of the visual attention measures - Multiple tracking objects (MOT)	Change from baseline at week 8 and change from baseline at week 16

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• Collaborators: University of California, Berkeley; University of Waterloo
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Allen MY Cheong, PhD, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: September 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): June 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 24, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 26, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): September 30, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 23, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 22, 2018
• Last Verified: February 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: balance; visual function; community-dwelling older adults; action video-game
• Other Study ID Numbers: K-ZK 93