ArticleJMIR serious games2024
Gamification in Mobile Apps for Children With Disabilities: Scoping Review.
Article in JMIR serious games, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Application of Gamification in Children's Oral Health Management: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Perspectives of young people with neuromotor disabilities on shared digital portals in paediatric rehabilitation: A descriptive-interpretive qualitative study.Developmental medicine and child neurology · 2026Article
- Evaluation and Implementation of the Gamified Jooay Mobile Health App: Protocol for a Hybrid Implementation-Effectiveness Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Gamification and Cognitive Factors: Research Hotspots, Knowledge Structure, and Future Directions Based on Bibliometric Analysis.Journal of Intelligence · 2026Article
- mHealth-Based Gamification Interventions to Promote Health Among Older Adults: Scoping Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- MACAFNet transformer-based multi-atlas fusion framework for autism spectrum disorder classification using functional connectivity.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Exploring User Experiences of an Augmented Reality Smartphone App Prescribing Exercise for Children and Young People With Cancer: Results From a Qualitative Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Beyond accessibility: co-designing mHealth to bridge the physical activity gap for people with disabilities.mHealth · 2026Article
- Digital Accessibility for Students with Disabilities and Inclusive Learning in Education.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Health Technologies and Infrastructures for Supporting Home-Based Pediatric Palliative Care: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 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
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChildren with disabilities face numerous challenges in accessing health services. Mobile health is an emerging field that could significantly reduce health inequities by providing more accessible services. Many mobile apps incorporate gamification elements such as feedback, points, and stories to increase engagement and motivation; however, little is known about how gamification has been incorporated in mobile apps for children with disabilities.
objectiveThis scoping review aims to identify and synthesize the existing research evidence on the use of gamification in mobile apps for children with disabilities. Specifically, the objectives were to (1) identify the categories of these mobile apps (eg, treatment and educational) (2), describe the health-related outcomes they target, (3) assess the types and levels of gamification elements used within these apps, and (4) determine the reasons for incorporating gamification elements into mobile apps.
methodsWe searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase, the ACM Digital Library, and IEEE Xplore databases to identify papers published between 2008 and 2023. Original empirical research studies reporting on gamified mobile apps for children with disabilities that implemented at least 1 gamification strategy or tactic were included. Studies investigating serious games or full-fledged games were excluded.
resultsA total of 38 studies reporting on 32 unique gamified mobile apps were included. Findings showed that gamified apps focus on communication skills and oral health in children with autism spectrum disorder while also addressing self-management and academic skills for other disability groups. Gamified mobile apps have demonstrated potential benefits across different populations and conditions; however, there were mixed results regarding their impact. The gamification strategies included fun and playfulness (23/32, 72%), feedback on performance (17/32, 53%), and reinforcement (17/32, 53%) in more than half of apps, whereas social connectivity was used as a gamification strategy in only 4 (12%) mobile apps. There were 2 main reasons for integrating gamification elements into mobile apps described in 16 (42%) studies: increasing user engagement and motivation and enhancing intervention effects.
conclusionsThis scoping review offers researchers a comprehensive review of the gamification elements currently used in mobile apps for the purposes of treatment, education, symptom management, and assessment for children with disabilities. In addition, it indicates that studies on certain disability groups and examinations of health-related outcomes have been neglected, highlighting the need for further investigations in these areas. Furthermore, research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of mobile-based gamification elements on health and health behavior outcomes, as well as the healthy development of children with disabilities.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.