The Impact of Narratives and Active Video Games on Long-Term Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity: A Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol

Authors

Dar Alon
Caio Victor Sousa
Tom Baranowski
Tiago V Barreira
Romina Cabrera-Perez
Kelly Chiu
Austin Fernandez
Amy Fleischman
Shirley Huang
Jungyun Hwang
Melanie C Green
I-Min Lee
Kelly Lee
Sarah Lessard
Lynne L Levitsky
Aika Misawa
Farzad Noubary
Ronald Samuels
Kyung Jin Sun
Debbe Thompson
Amy S Lu

Publication Date

9-1-2020

Journal

Contemporary Clinical Trials

DOI

10.1016/j.cct.2020.106087

PMID

32682995

PMCID

PMC7494553

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

9-1-2021

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Body Mass Index, Child, Exercise, Humans, Obesity, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Single-Blind Method, Video Games

Abstract

Background: Although physical activity (PA) has been shown in helping prevent and treat obesity, current PA interventions are still not effective in ameliorating the obesity epidemic. Additional forms of PA need to be investigated to improve PA engagement and outcomes. We hypothesize that pairing a narrative (i.e., story) with an active video game (AVG), a less traditional form of PA, will increase participant engagement in PA. This paper presents the rationale, implementation, and pilot results of a study assessing the effect of narrative's impact on PA and a series of other health outcomes.

Objective: This paper presents the rationale, implementation, and pilot results of a study assessing the effect of narrative's impact on PA and a series of other health outcomes.

Methods/design: The Active Video Game Study is a six-month randomized controlled single-blind trial projected to include 210 participants. The intervention strategy will pair a narrative to an active video game (AVG). Participants will be randomized into 3 groups: condition A [Narrative + AVG], condition B [AVG Only], and condition C [Control]. Participants will undergo three in-person data collection visits over the course of six months. Inclusion criteria are that children are between the ages of 8-12 and have a BMI ≥ 85%. The primary outcome is change in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Secondary outcome measures include change in BMI percentile, fasting insulin and glucose, lipid panel, C-reactive protein, and cognitive function. A pilot trial of n = 6 was conducted to help develop procedures and address problems that could arise in the main trial.

Discussion: Successful completion of this study will provide the empirical basis for novel intervention and design strategies to enhance the impact of AVGs on long-term MVPA.