ArticleJMIR serious games2023
Effects of Exergaming on Musculoskeletal Pain in Older Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Article in JMIR serious games, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Virtual reality for the management of musculoskeletal pain: an umbrella review.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Non-Immersive Virtual Reality Exercise on Self-Reported Pain and Mechanical Hyperalgesia in Older Adults with Knee and Hip Osteoarthritis: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Trial
- Acute effects of virtual reality-based relaxation and exergaming on primary dysmenorrhea symptoms.Turkish journal of medical sciences · 2025Trial
- Virtual Reality for Patients With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain and Disability: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews.Health science reports · 2025Review
- Home-Based Virtual Reality Training for Enhanced Balance, Strength, and Mobility Among Older Adults With Frailty: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR serious games · 2025Review
- Unlocking the potential of serious games for rehabilitation in low and middle-income countries: addressing potential and current limitations.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundExercise is effective for musculoskeletal pain. However, physical, social, and environmental factors make it difficult for older adults to persist in exercising. Exergaming is a new pathway that combines exercise with gameplay and may be helpful for older adults to overcome these difficulties and engage in regular exercise.
objectiveThis systematic review aimed to determine the efficacy of exergaming to improve musculoskeletal pain in older adults.
methodsThe search was performed in 5 databases (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library). The risk of bias for randomized controlled studies was assessed using the revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool in randomized trials (RoB 2), and the methodological quality was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence-Based Database scale. Standardized mean difference and 95% CI were calculated using fixed-effects model meta-analyses in the Review Manager version 5.3 (RevMan 5.3).
resultsSeven randomized controlled studies were included, which contained 264 older adults. Three of the 7 studies reported significant improvements in pain after the exergaming intervention, but only 1 reported a significant difference between groups after adjustment for baseline (P<.05), and another reported a significant improvement in thermal pain between the 2 groups (P<.001). The results of the meta-analysis of the 7 studies showed no statistically significant improvement in pain compared to the control group (standardized mean difference -0.22; 95% CI -0.47 to 0.02; P=.07).
conclusionsAlthough the effects of exergames on musculoskeletal pain in older adults are unknown, exergame training is generally safe, fun, and appealing to older adults. Unsupervised exercise at home is feasible and cost-effective. However, most of the current studies have used commercial exergames, and it is recommended that there should be more cooperation between industries in the future to develop professional rehabilitation exergames that are more suitable for older adults. The sample sizes of the studies included are small, the risk of bias is high, and the results should be interpreted with caution. Further randomized controlled studies with large sample sizes, high quality, and rigor are needed in the future.
trial registrationPROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews CRD42022342325; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=342325.
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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.