Effects of Exergaming in Cognitive Functions for People with MCI and dementia. A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Background Cognitive decline is one of the initial symptoms of older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Physical activity has been found to be able to prevent cognitive decline in older adults with MCI and dementia. Exergaming is a form of technology‐driven physical activity which is suggested for older adults. However, it is still unclear whether exergaming is able to help older adults with MCI and dementia to prevent deterioration of cognitive functions. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis to examine the effect of exergaming on cognitive functions in older adults with MCI and dementia. Method A systematic literature search was conducted via OVID databases. Studies recruited older adults with MCI or dementia, and examined the effect of an exergaming intervention and compared with a non‐exergaming group were included. Both randomized controlled trails and quasi‐experimental studies were eligible. The outcomes were global cognition and verbal memory. All outcomes were measured by using standard cognitive assessment tools. The effects were pooled by meta‐analysis. Result Nine studies involving 497 older adults with MCI or dementia were included. The mean age ranged from 67 to 84, and the percentage of male ranged from 27% to 72%. Seven studies were RCT; two studies were with quasi‐experimental design. Older adults who received exergaming showed better global cognition than the control group (SMD = 0.32, 95% CI = 0.1 to 0.54). For memory functions, older adults who received exergaming showed better verbal memory than the control group (SMD = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.63 to 1.67). In subgroup analysis, older adults who received exergaming showed better global cognition than the usual care group (SMD = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.19 to 0.69), and comparable performance with the traditional exercise group. Conclusion Exergaming was demonstrated to be a potential psychosocial intervention to prevent cognitive and memory decline in older adults with MCI and dementia. Exergaming can capture behavioral data that may be able to further understand the change in the cognitive abilities of older adults at risk. However, the number of studies was small, further investigation of the effect of exergaming is suggested.