College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, United States.
Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States.
JMIR Form Res. 2024 Nov 8;8:e53156. doi: 10.2196/53156.
BACKGROUND: Physical inactivity represents a major health concern for older adults. Most social, at-home physical activity (PA) interventions use videoconference, email, or telephone communication for program delivery. However, evidence suggests that these platforms may hinder the social connection experienced by users. Recent advancements in virtual reality (VR) suggest that it may be a rich platform for social, at-home interventions because it offers legitimate options for intervention delivery and PA. OBJECTIVE: This pilot study aims to determine the feasibility and acceptability of VR compared to videoconference as a medium for remote group-mediated behavioral intervention for older adults. The information generated from this investigation will inform the use of VR as a medium for intervention delivery. METHODS: Nine low-active older adults (mean age 66.8, SD 4.8 y) were randomized to a 4-week home-based, group-mediated PA intervention delivered via VR or videoconference. Feasibility (ie, the total number of sessions attended and the number of VR accesses outside of scheduled meetings) and acceptability (ie, the number of participants reporting high levels of nausea, program evaluations using Likert-style prompts with responses ranging from -5=very difficult or disconnected to 5=very easy or connected, and participant feedback on immersion and social connection) are illustrated via descriptive statistics and quotes from open-ended responses. RESULTS: None of the participants experienced severe VR-related sickness before randomization, with a low average sickness rating of 1.6 (SD 1.6) out of 27 points. Attendance rates for group meetings were 98% (59/60) and 96% (46/48) for the VR and videoconference groups, respectively. Outside of scheduled meeting times, participants reported a median of 5.5 (IQR 5.3-5.8, range 0-27) VR accesses throughout the entire intervention. Program evaluations suggested that participants felt personally connected to their peers (VR group: median 3.0, IQR 2.5-3.5; videoconference group: median 3.0, IQR 2.7-3.3), found that goals were easy to accomplish (VR group: median 3.0, IQR 2.8-3.3; videoconference group: median 3.0, IQR 2.6-3.4), and had ease in finding PA options (VR group: median 4.0, IQR 3.5-4.3; videoconference group: median 2.0, IQR 1.6-2.4) and engaging in meaningful dialogue with peers (VR group: median 4.0, IQR 4.0-4.0; videoconference group: median 3.5, IQR 3.3-3.8). Open-ended responses regarding VR use indicated increased immersion experiences and intrinsic motivation for PA. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that VR may be a useful medium for social PA programming in older adults, given it was found to be feasible and acceptable in this sample. Importantly, all participants indicated low levels of VR-related sickness before randomization, and both groups demonstrated very high attendance at meetings with their groups and behavioral coaches, which is promising for using VR and videoconference in future interventions. Modifications for future iterations of similar interventions are provided. Further work using larger samples and longer follow-up durations is needed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04756245; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04756245.
背景:身体活动不足是老年人面临的主要健康问题之一。大多数社交居家体育活动(PA)干预措施使用视频会议、电子邮件或电话通信来进行项目交付。然而,有证据表明,这些平台可能会阻碍用户的社交联系。最近虚拟现实(VR)的进步表明,它可能是一个丰富的社交居家干预平台,因为它为干预交付和 PA 提供了合理的选择。
目的:本试点研究旨在确定 VR 与视频会议相比作为远程小组介导的老年人行为干预媒介的可行性和可接受性。从这项研究中获得的信息将为 VR 作为干预交付媒介的使用提供信息。
方法:9 名低活跃老年人(平均年龄 66.8,SD 4.8 y)被随机分配到一项为期 4 周的家庭为基础的、小组介导的 PA 干预中,通过 VR 或视频会议进行。通过描述性统计和来自开放式响应的引用来说明可行性(即参加的总次数和计划会议外的 VR 访问次数)和可接受性(即报告高水平恶心的参与者数量、使用从 -5=非常困难或断开到 5=非常容易或连接的李克特式提示的程序评估,以及参与者对沉浸感和社交联系的反馈)。
结果:在随机分组前,没有参与者经历严重的 VR 相关疾病,平均疾病评分仅为 1.6(SD 1.6),满分 27 分。小组会议的出席率分别为 VR 组的 98%(59/60)和视频会议组的 96%(46/48)。在计划会议时间之外,参与者报告了中位数为 5.5(IQR 5.3-5.8,范围 0-27)的整个干预期间的 VR 访问次数。程序评估表明,参与者感到与同龄人有个人联系(VR 组:中位数 3.0,IQR 2.5-3.5;视频会议组:中位数 3.0,IQR 2.7-3.3),认为目标很容易实现(VR 组:中位数 3.0,IQR 2.8-3.3;视频会议组:中位数 3.0,IQR 2.6-3.4),并且很容易找到 PA 选项(VR 组:中位数 4.0,IQR 3.5-4.3;视频会议组:中位数 2.0,IQR 1.6-2.4)并与同龄人进行有意义的对话(VR 组:中位数 4.0,IQR 4.0-4.0;视频会议组:中位数 3.5,IQR 3.3-3.8)。关于 VR 使用的开放式响应表明,增加了沉浸感体验和对 PA 的内在动机。
结论:这些发现表明,鉴于在本样本中发现 VR 是可行和可接受的,因此它可能是老年人社交 PA 编程的有用媒介。重要的是,所有参与者在随机分组前都报告了低水平的 VR 相关疾病,并且两组在与他们的小组和行为教练的会议上都表现出非常高的出席率,这为未来的干预措施使用 VR 和视频会议提供了希望。为未来类似干预措施的迭代提供了修改建议。需要使用更大的样本和更长的随访时间进行进一步的工作。
试验注册:ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04756245;https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04756245。
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