Ma Ben D, Ng Sai Leung, Schwanen Tim, Zacharias John, Zhou Mudi, Kawachi Ichiro, Sun Guibo
Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China (Hong Kong).
Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China (Hong Kong).
J Med Internet Res. 2018 Jun 15;20(6):e217. doi: 10.2196/jmir.9670.
Physical activity has long been considered as an important component of a healthy lifestyle. Although many efforts have been made to promote physical activity, there is no effective global intervention for physical activity promotion. Some researchers have suggested that Pokémon GO, a location-based augmented reality game, was associated with a short-term increase in players' physical activity on a global scale, but the details are far from clear.
The objective of our study was to study the relationship between Pokémon GO use and players' physical activity and how the relationship varies across players with different physical activity levels.
We conducted a field study in Hong Kong to investigate if Pokémon GO use was associated with physical activity. Pokémon GO players were asked to report their demographics through a survey; data on their Pokémon GO behaviors and daily walking and running distances were collected from their mobile phones. Participants (n=210) were Hong Kong residents, aged 13 to 65 years, who played Pokémon GO using iPhone 5 or 6 series in 5 selected types of built environment. We measured the participants' average daily walking and running distances over a period of 35 days, from 14 days before to 21 days after game installation. Multilevel modeling was used to identify and examine the predictors (including Pokémon GO behaviors, weather, demographics, and built environment) of the relationship between Pokémon GO use and daily walking and running distances.
The average daily walking and running distances increased by 18.1% (0.96 km, approximately 1200 steps) in the 21 days after the participants installed Pokémon GO compared with the average distances over the 14 days before installation (P<.001). However, this association attenuated over time and was estimated to disappear 24 days after game installation. Multilevel models indicated that Pokémon GO had a stronger and more lasting association among the less physically active players compared with the physically active ones (P<.001). Playing Pokémon GO in green space had a significant positive relationship with daily walking and running distances (P=.03). Moreover, our results showed that whether Pokémon GO was played, the number of days played, weather (total rainfall, bright sunshine, mean air temperature, and mean wind speed), and demographics (age, gender, income, education, and body mass index) were associated with daily walking and running distances.
Pokémon GO was associated with a short-term increase in the players' daily walking and running distances; this association was especially strong among less physically active participants. Pokémon GO can build new links between humans and green space and encourage people to engage in physical activity. Our results show that location-based augmented reality games, such as Pokémon GO, have the potential to be a global public health intervention tool.
长期以来，体育活动一直被视为健康生活方式的重要组成部分。尽管为促进体育活动已做出诸多努力，但在全球范围内尚无有效的促进体育活动的干预措施。一些研究人员表明，一款基于位置的增强现实游戏《宝可梦大探险》在全球范围内与玩家体育活动的短期增加有关，但具体细节尚不清楚。
我们研究的目的是探讨玩《宝可梦大探险》与玩家体育活动之间的关系，以及这种关系在不同体育活动水平的玩家中如何变化。
我们在香港进行了一项实地研究，以调查玩《宝可梦大探险》是否与体育活动有关。《宝可梦大探险》玩家被要求通过一项调查报告他们的人口统计学特征；从他们的手机中收集有关他们玩《宝可梦大探险》的行为以及每日步行和跑步距离的数据。参与者（n = 210）为香港居民，年龄在13至65岁之间，他们在5种选定类型的建筑环境中使用iPhone 5或6系列玩《宝可梦大探险》。我们测量了参与者在游戏安装前14天至安装后21天这35天内的平均每日步行和跑步距离。使用多水平模型来识别和检验玩《宝可梦大探险》与每日步行和跑步距离之间关系的预测因素（包括玩《宝可梦大探险》的行为、天气、人口统计学特征和建筑环境）。
与安装《宝可梦大探险》前14天的平均距离相比，参与者安装游戏后的21天内，平均每日步行和跑步距离增加了18.1%（0.96公里，约1200步）（P <.001）。然而，这种关联会随着时间减弱，估计在游戏安装后24天消失。多水平模型表明，与体育活动较多的玩家相比，玩《宝可梦大探险》在体育活动较少的玩家中具有更强且更持久的关联（P <.001）。在绿地玩《宝可梦大探险》与每日步行和跑步距离呈显著正相关（P =.03）。此外，我们的结果表明，无论是否玩《宝可梦大探险》、玩的天数、天气（总降雨量、日照时长、平均气温和平均风速）以及人口统计学特征（年龄、性别、收入、教育程度和体重指数）都与每日步行和跑步距离有关。
《宝可梦大探险》与玩家每日步行和跑步距离的短期增加有关；这种关联在体育活动较少的参与者中尤为明显。《宝可梦大探险》可以在人类与绿地之间建立新的联系，并鼓励人们参与体育活动。我们的结果表明，像《宝可梦大探险》这样基于位置的增强现实游戏有潜力成为一种全球公共卫生干预工具。
