Feasibility of a purpose-built active video game as a health intervention for sedentary males in a socially deprived area of the UK: an exploratory trial

Background: Males have a lower life expectancy and a higher morbidity than females. Such trends are exacerbated in regions of social deprivation yet little is known on how best to intervene in this male population. The objectives of this study were to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a purpose-built active video game (AVG) intervention in a target population of sedentary males from a region of lower socio-economic status. Methods: This was a community-based pilot randomised controlled exploratory trial. We recruited men (n = 47) from areas of social deprivation in the North East of England in distinct community settings; a working men’s club (n = 6), taxi ranks (n = 22), mosque (n = 17) and home visits (n = 2). Following baseline measures of metabolic health and quality of life, participants were randomly allocated by a third party to an intervention (n = 27) or control (n = 17) group. A prototype boxing-based AVG was developed where participants were required to punch against resistance bands in time to music and on-screen prompts at varying frequencies. The exercise sessions (3 per week over 12 weeks) lasting no longer than 15mins were delivered at the place of recruitment. We recorded heart rates for all exercise sessions. Outcome measures included metabolic risk factors and quality of life measures at baseline (0 weeks) and follow-up (13 weeks). Results: Both the intervention and research procedures were feasible and acceptable to participants. The tests were acceptable but some measures (i.e. free-living physical activity and lipid profiles) were influenced by a reluctance/forgetfulness of the participants to conform to protocol. Retention to the intervention was 87%. Adherence to exercise sessions was on average 40%. Heart rates did not replicate real-life boxing but were considerably higher than previous AVGs and included some elements of high-intensity exercise. There were large confidence intervals for the outcome measures. There were some possibly harmful trends in terms of the physical components of the SF36 questionnaire which were probably due to localised muscle soreness.