Relationship Between Modality-specific Dual-task Performance and Immersive Exergaming Outcomes in Healthy Athletes (DUTACO)

The goal of this clinical trial is to provide a more specific understanding of which dual task conditions elicit changes in either motor or cognitive performance. A dual-task is a simultaneously performed motor and cognitive task. Exergaming describes physically active gaming. The main questions the study aims to answer are:

• Can performance in visual and auditory dual-task paradigms explain performance in an immersive exergaming task in healthy athletes?
• How are exergaming scores associated with athletic performance tests?
• What biomechanical movement patterns are shown during dual-tasks? Researchers will also compare performance of those experienced with jumping and those inexperienced with jumping.

Participants will:

• Complete two sessions performing athletic performance tests, cognitive tasks, and different dual-tasks while their movement pattern is recorded
• Complete questionnaires on load, stress, and sleep during the sessions

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Healthy Athlete
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: different dual-task paradigms

Detailed Description

The two sessions last each approximately 2 hours and take place within one to 12 weeks. Both sessions involve measurement of biomechanical movement patterns with motion capture.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Michelle C. Haas; Phone Number: +41 58 934 75 57; Email: michelle.haas@zhaw.ch

Study Locations

• Switzerland
  • Canton of Zurich
    • Winterthur, Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, 8400
      • Recruiting
      • ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences
      • Contact: Michelle C. Haas; Phone Number: +41589347557; Email: michelle.haas@zhaw.ch
      • Contact: Eveline S. Graf, Prof. Dr.; Email: eveline.graf@zhaw.ch
      • Principal Investigator: Michelle C. Haas

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• age between 18 and 34 years
• self-reported recreationally or competitively active (more than 2 hours per week)
• self-reported ability to complete change of direction, balancing, and jumping tasks
• capacity to sign informed consent
• ability to understand German

Exclusion Criteria:

• acute injury in the last 6 months resulting in missing more than 3 training sessions
• severe comorbidity or condition which would prohibit performance of the lsted testing tasks
• self-reported pregnancy

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Dual-Task paradigms; All participants are exposed to the same dual-task paradigms described in the intervention.	Other: different dual-task paradigms; Participants will perform combined motor-cognitive tasks. During the first session balancing and bilateral jumping will be combined with an additional auditory or visual cognitive task. During the second session participants will do a combined motor-cognitive task in exergaming.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Cognitive dual-task cost	Dual-task cost with the different modalities are operationalized by reaction time.	Measurement session 1 (day 0) and session 2 (days 6-90)
Exergaming performance	Operationalized as task success rate	Session 2 (days 6-90)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Motor dual-task cost	The motor dual-task costs are operationalized by the peak knee abduction angle.	Session 1 (day 0)
Countermovement Jump	Height of a countermovement jump	Session 1 (day 0) and session 2 (day 6-90)
ProAgility Test	Measured using the total elapsed time in the ProAgility Test.	Session 1 (day 0) and session 2 (day 6-90)
Y-Balance Test	Measured using the composite reach distance in all directions of the Y-Balance Test.	Session 1 (day 0) and session 2 (days 6-90)
Joint Angle	Angles of ankle, knee, and hip during the dual-tasks.	Session 1 (day 0) and session 2 (day 6-90)
Joint Moment	Moments of ankle, knee, and hip during the dual-tasks.	Session 1 (day 0) and session 2 (day 6-90)
Ground Reaction Force	Ground reaction force during the dual-tasks.	Session 1 (day 0) and session 2 (day 6-90)
Center of pressure	Center of pressure during the dual-tasks.	Session 1 (day 0) and session 2 (day 6-90)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Zurich University of Applied Sciences

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 24, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 26, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 4, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 10, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 1, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 26, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: dual task
• Other Study ID Numbers: DUTACO

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Pooled data of participants will be shared on a repository if consent is given by the participants.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Within one year after completion of the study.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: The access conditions will be defined in the license statement adjacent to the dataset.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No