<p class="title">Digital games can effectively help people engage in more physical exercise and could be used to prevent or manage heart diseases, according to scientists including one of Indian origin.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The research, by Kavita Radhakrishnan from the University of Texas in the US and colleagues, found that the use of digital games improved exercise capacity and energy expenditure significantly.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Average adherence rates for the game interventions for cardiovascular disease (CVD) self-management ranged from 70 to 100 per cent across all studies, and they were enjoyed by a majority of participants in studies that assessed perceptions of the interventions.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, the use of digital games did not affect the quality of life, self-efficacy, anxiety, or depression, according to the study published in the Games for Health Journal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The researchers reviewed recent research evidence on game interventions for CVD-related self-management behaviours in patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease, heart failure, hypertension, or myocardial infarction (heart attacks).</p>.<p class="bodytext">They recommend that future research includes longer study durations and larger sample sizes, game design that is informed by theoretical frameworks for behaviour change, and additional CVD self-management behaviours.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Compliance with the self-care prescriptions for the heart-related disease therapies tends to be low. Games may provide a method for reaching large numbers of heart disease patients to teach easy to learn self-care practices in an enjoyable manner," said Thomas Baranowski, from Baylor College of Medicine in the US.</p>
<p class="title">Digital games can effectively help people engage in more physical exercise and could be used to prevent or manage heart diseases, according to scientists including one of Indian origin.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The research, by Kavita Radhakrishnan from the University of Texas in the US and colleagues, found that the use of digital games improved exercise capacity and energy expenditure significantly.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Average adherence rates for the game interventions for cardiovascular disease (CVD) self-management ranged from 70 to 100 per cent across all studies, and they were enjoyed by a majority of participants in studies that assessed perceptions of the interventions.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, the use of digital games did not affect the quality of life, self-efficacy, anxiety, or depression, according to the study published in the Games for Health Journal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The researchers reviewed recent research evidence on game interventions for CVD-related self-management behaviours in patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease, heart failure, hypertension, or myocardial infarction (heart attacks).</p>.<p class="bodytext">They recommend that future research includes longer study durations and larger sample sizes, game design that is informed by theoretical frameworks for behaviour change, and additional CVD self-management behaviours.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Compliance with the self-care prescriptions for the heart-related disease therapies tends to be low. Games may provide a method for reaching large numbers of heart disease patients to teach easy to learn self-care practices in an enjoyable manner," said Thomas Baranowski, from Baylor College of Medicine in the US.</p>