Beale Ivan L, Kato Pamela M, Marin-Bowling Veronica M, Guthrie Nicole, Cole Steve W
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia.
J Adolesc Health. 2007 Sep;41(3):263-70. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.04.006. Epub 2007 Jul 12.
Adolescents with chronic illnesses have been shown to have management and treatment issues resulting in poor outcomes. These issues may arise from non-interest in self care and illness knowledge. A video game, "Re-Mission," was developed to actively involve young people with cancer in their own treatment. Re-Mission provides opportunities to learn about cancer and its treatment.
The efficacy of Re-Mission was investigated in a multi-site, randomized, controlled study with 375 adolescent and young adult cancer patients. Participants received either a regular commercial game (control) or both the regular game plus Re-Mission (Re-Mission group). Participants were given a mini-PC with the games installed and requested to play for an hour each week for 3 months. A test on cancer-related knowledge was given prior to game play (baseline) and again after 1 and 3 months. At 3 months the Re-Mission group also rated the acceptability and credibility of Re-Mission.
Analyses of the knowledge test scores showed that whereas scores of both groups improved significantly over the follow-up periods, the scores of the Re-Mission group improved significantly more. The size of this effect was related to usage of Re-Mission. Credibility scores were negatively correlated with level of knowledge but not with change in knowledge level at 1 month or 3 months.
The results indicate a specific effect of Re-Mission play on cancer knowledge that is not attributable to patients' expectations. It is concluded that video games can be an effective vehicle for health education in adolescents and young adults with chronic illnesses.
研究表明，患有慢性病的青少年存在管理和治疗问题，导致治疗效果不佳。这些问题可能源于对自我护理和疾病知识缺乏兴趣。一款名为“再战癌症”的电子游戏旨在让患癌青少年积极参与自身治疗。“再战癌症”提供了了解癌症及其治疗方法的机会。
在一项多中心、随机对照研究中，对375名青少年及青年癌症患者调查了“再战癌症”的疗效。参与者要么收到一款普通商业游戏（对照组），要么收到普通游戏加“再战癌症”（“再战癌症”组）。为参与者提供安装了游戏的迷你电脑，并要求他们每周玩一小时，持续3个月。在游戏开始前（基线）以及1个月和3个月后分别进行了癌症相关知识测试。3个月时，“再战癌症”组还对“再战癌症”的可接受性和可信度进行了评分。
对知识测试分数的分析表明，虽然两组分数在随访期间均显著提高，但“再战癌症”组的分数提高得更为显著。这种效果的大小与“再战癌症”的使用情况有关。可信度分数与知识水平呈负相关，但与1个月或3个月时的知识水平变化无关。
结果表明玩“再战癌症”对癌症知识有特定影响，这并非归因于患者的期望。得出的结论是，电子游戏可以成为对患有慢性病的青少年和青年进行健康教育的有效手段。
