ReviewJMIR serious games2022
The Effectiveness of Serious Games on Cognitive Processing Speed Among Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Review in JMIR serious games, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of Active and Assisted Living technologies on psychosocial well-being in older adults: systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Exergaming for dementia and mild cognitive impairment.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Serious Games for Learning Among Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Digital mental health needs a purpose-driven approach.Nature human behaviour · 2026Review
- Are gamifying exergames the future of intervention for people with dementia? Systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Review
- Brain age gap as a predictive biomarker that links aging, lifestyle, and neuropsychiatric health.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Effects of a Gamified Agent-Based System for Personalized Elderly Care: Pilot Usability Study.JMIR serious games · 2023Article
- The performance of serious games for enhancing attention in cognitively impaired older adults.NPJ digital medicine · 2023Review
- Artificial Intelligence-Driven Serious Games in Health Care: Scoping Review.JMIR serious games · 2022Article
- The Effectiveness of Serious Games in Improving Memory Among Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JMIR serious games · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHuman cognitive processing speed is known to decline with age. Human cognitive processing speed refers to the time that an individual takes from receiving a stimulus to reacting to it. Serious games, which are video games used for training and educational purposes, have the potential to improve processing speed. Numerous systematic reviews have summarized the evidence regarding the effectiveness of serious games in improving processing speed, but they are undermined by some limitations.
objectiveThis study aimed to examine the effectiveness of serious games on the cognitive processing speed of an older adult population living with cognitive impairment.
methodsA systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted. Two search sources were used in this review: 8 electronic databases and backward and forward reference list checking. A total of 2 reviewers independently checked the eligibility of the studies, extracted data from the included studies, and appraised the risk of bias and quality of the evidence. Evidence from the included studies was synthesized using a narrative and statistical approach (ie, meta-analysis), as appropriate.
resultsOf the 548 publications identified, 16 (2.9%) RCTs eventually met all eligibility criteria. Very-low-quality evidence from 50% (8/16) and 38% (6/16) of the RCTs showed no statistically significant effect of serious games on processing speed compared with no or passive intervention groups (P=.77) and conventional exercises (P=.58), respectively. A subgroup analysis showed that both types of serious games (cognitive training games: P=.26; exergames: P=.88) were as effective as conventional exercises in improving processing speed.
conclusionsThere is no superiority of serious games over no or passive interventions and conventional exercises in improving processing speed among older adults with cognitive impairment. However, our findings remain inconclusive because of the low quality of the evidence, the small sample size in most of the included studies, and the paucity of studies included in the meta-analyses. Therefore, until more robust evidence is published, serious games should be offered or used as an adjunct to existing interventions. Further trials should be undertaken to investigate the effect of serious games that specifically target processing speed rather than cognitive abilities in general.
trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42022301667; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=301667.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.