Effects of Virtual Reality Exercise on Promoting Physical Activity and Health Among College Students

Effects of Virtual Reality Exercise on Promoting Physical Activity and Health Among College Students: A 4-week Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this research is to examine the effectiveness of a 4-week immersive-virtual reality (VR) exercise bike intervention on college students' physiological outcomes (physical activity levels, cardiovascular fitness, and body composition) and psychological outcomes (situational motivation, situational interest, mood states, and depressive symptoms).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Body Composition; Depressive Symptoms; Cardiovascular Fitness; Mood States; Physical Activity Levels; Situational Motivation; Situational Interest
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: VR-based exercise bike; Other: Usual routine

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 36
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Minnesota
    • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55455
      • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• College students age from 18 to 35 years old who are currently enrolled in the university
• College students without diagnosed physical and/or mental disabilities
• Must be willing to provide informed consent and compete the PA Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q)
• Must be willing to be randomized into an intervention or control group
• no self-reported motion sickness symptoms during immersive VR-based exercise

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students under the age of 18 or over the age of 35 years old or not currently enrolled in the university
• Having self-reported physical and/or mental disabilities
• Contradictions to PA participation as determined by PAR-Q responses
• having motion sickness reaction when exercising under VR-based condition.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Exercise on immersive VR-based bike; Participants were asked to exercise on an immersive VR-based exercise bike for one hour per session, two times per week, for 4 weeks	Device: VR-based exercise bike; For the intervention group, participations exercised on an immersive VR-based exercise bike for one hour, twice per week, for 4 weeks. Participants in the control group were asked to maintain their usual routine after the baseline test for 4 weeks. Participants were scheduled separately coming to lab for the post-test after 4 weeks and all participants received the identical assessments in aforementioned physiological and psychological outcomes.
Active Comparator: Usual routine; Participants in the control group were asked to maintain their usual routine after the baseline test for 4 weeks. Participants were scheduled separately coming to lab for the post-test after 4 weeks and all participants received the identical assessments in aforementioned physiological and psychological outcomes.	Other: Usual routine; Participants were asked to maintain their usual activities, without engaging in any other physical activity intervention during the 4-week study period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Exercise Motivation	Participants' motivation were assessed by the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnire-2 (BREQ-2). The BREQ-2 has 19 items assessing the continuum of behavioral regulation in exercise, which included amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, and intrinsic regulation.	Baseline, and 4 weeks
Mood States	Participants' mood states were measured by the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS). The BRUMS assesses mood across six subscales (anger, confusion, depression, fatigue, tension, and vigor) using a 24-item questionnaire with responses ranging from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely).	Baseline, and 4 weeks
Depressive Symptoms	The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to assess participant's depressive symptoms. This is a 21-item, self-report rating inventory that measures characteristic attitudes and symptoms of depression. The total score was calculated to the evaluate the severity of depressive symptoms.	Baseline, and 4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Cardiovascular fitness levels	Investigators asked participants to step on and off of a 12-inch plyometric box for 3 minutes to the "beep" of a metronome set to 96 beats-per-minute, with each beep corresponding with one leg movement. Immediately following the completion of the test, the principal investigator measured participants' heart rate for 60 seconds via palpation of the radial artery on the underbelly of the left wrist.	Baseline, and 4 weeks
Physical activity levels	Physical activity levels were assessed via International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The IPAQ assesses three specific types of activity: walking, moderate-intensity activities, and vigorous-intensity activities. It asks participants to recall the time (in minutes) spent on each of these activities in the past 7 days. Each participant were assigned an accelerometer to wear during each 60-minute exercise session. Prior to the start of the intervention, participants were asked to wear an accelerometer for one week for measuring their physical activity levels. In addition, the investigators asked participants to wear the accelerometer for another week at the completion of 4-week intervention.	Baseline, and 4 weeks
Body Mass Index	Participant height (cm) and weight (kg) were measured using a stadiometer and a Tanita BC-558 IRONMAN Segmental Body Composition Monitor, respectively, in theUniversity of Minnesota's Physical Activity Epidemiology Laboratory. Both height and weight were used to calculate BMI in kg/m². BMI was classified according to the following indicators: Underweight: BMI < 18.5; Normal weight: BMI 18.5-24.9; Overweight: BMI 25-29.9; Obesity: BMI ≥ 30.	Baseline, and 4 weeks
Percent of body fat	Percent of body fat (%BF) were measured by Tanita BC-558 IRONMAN Segmental Body Composition Monitor.	Baseline, and 4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• Collaborators: University of Minnesota

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 28, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 1, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 3, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 27, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 30, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 30, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 27, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physical Activity; Virtual Reality; Video games; Exergaming; Cardiovascular fitness; Physical Activity Levels; VR games
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Depression
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00010580

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified participant data, including primary and secondary outcomes, and relevant demographic will be made publicly available. Data will be accessible through a public data repository. Researchers interested in accessing these datasets can request or directly download them via https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/project/223741/version/V1/view

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No