Abstract
Objective
The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effects
of exergame training on female patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Outcome
measurements mainly include overall functioning, pain perception, quality of life,
exercise capacity, health perception, kinesiophobia, and fatigue severity.
Data Sources
Five electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Cochrane
Library) were searched from inception until June 24, 2021. In addition to searches,
review the reference lists of relevant papers by hand was also conducted. Cochrane
Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias was used to evaluate the risk of bias
in the included studies.
Study Selection
Articles were collected with the following study inclusion criteria: (1) randomized
controlled trial (RCT) design; (2) participants were female patients with FMS aged
older than 18 years; (3) participants in experimental groups received exergame training
using any modality; and (4) outcome measures included overall functioning, quality
of life, exercise capacity, health perception, kinesiophobia, and fatigue severity.
Data Extraction
The data were independently extracted by 2 researchers. The extracted data related
to the document characteristics (first author, publication year, and country) participant
characteristics (number and age of participants in the experimental and control groups),
and interventions (intervention content, frequency, and duration, and measurement
tools).
Data Synthesis
Nine RCTs including 466 female patients with FMS were included in the analysis. Exergame
training had significant positive effects on overall functioning (standardized mean
difference [SMD], −0.52; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.77 to 0.27; P<.0001), pain
perception (SMD, −0.49; 95% CI, −0.97 to −0.02; P=.04), quality of life (SMD, 0.77;
95% CI, 0.44-1.10; P<.00001), exercise capacity (SMD, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.32-0.84; P<.0001),
health perception (SMD, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.38-1.01; P<.0001), and fatigue severity (SMD,
−0.97; 95% CI, −1.55 to −0.38; P=.001). However, exergame training did not have significant
effects on kinesiophobia (SMD, −1.13; 95% CI, −2.88 to 0.62; P=.21).
Conclusions
Exergame training has beneficial effects on the overall functioning, pain perception,
quality of life, exercise capacity, health perception and fatigue severity of female
patients with FMS. Exergame training is a potential non-drug therapy for the treatment
of patients with FMS.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
6MWT (6-minute walking test), BPI (Brief Pain Inventory), CI (confidence interval), EQ-5D (European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions), FIQ (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire), FMS (fibromyalgia syndrome), FSS (Fatigue Severity Scale), GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation), SMD (standardized mean difference), TSK (Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia), VAS (visual analog scale)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 13, 2022
Accepted:
October 5,
2021
Received in revised form:
October 3,
2021
Received:
August 25,
2021
Footnotes
Supported by the Research Foundation for Young Teacher of Shenzhen University (grant no. QNJS0274), High-Level Scientific Research Foundation for the Introduction of Talent of Shenzhen University (grant no. RC00228) and Natural Science Featured Innovation Projects in Ordinary Universities in Guangdong Province (grant no. 2021KTSCX297).
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.
