The effects of exergames on anxiety levels: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

There are currently many different approaches to performing exergames and there is still no consensus as to whether exergames are able to reduce anxiety levels, as well as whether exergames provide greater reductions on anxiety levels when added to traditional forms of clinical interventions. Therefore, the aim of the present systematic review and meta‐analysis was to access data from studies that evaluated the effects of exergames on anxiety levels in humans. PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane databases were searched up to 22 February 2019. Inclusion criteria were acute and chronic (short‐term and long‐term interventions) studies which evaluated the effects of exergames in anxiety levels as primary or secondary aim. Of the 1342 studies found, 17 and 10 were included in qualitative analyses and meta‐analyses, respectively. The within‐group analysis found that exergames (standardized mean difference [SMD]: −0.57 [95% Confidence interval (CI): −0.86 to −0.28], P