title: Improving Walking, Muscle Strength, and Balance in the Elderly with an Exergame Using Kinect: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many issues prevent elderly individuals from exercising in daily life. There is a need for a system that allows elderly individuals to engage in exercise regularly at a low cost. We developed an exergame that uses a Kinect(®) sensor (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA) and conducted a randomized controlled trial of the effects of using this exergame on muscle strength and balance in healthy elderly individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  We enrolled 57 healthy elderly individuals and randomly divided them into an intervention group (n=29) and a control group (n=28) using a table of random numbers. All participants underwent gait analyses and were examined using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Functional Reach Test (FRT), and the 30-second chair-stand (CS-30) test before the intervention. Participants in the intervention group played the exergame once or twice a week, up to a total of 24 times. The tests were repeated after intervention, and the scores were compared with those obtained before intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results indicated that walking, muscle strength, and motor function improved in participants in the intervention group. Decreased double standing time (P=0.03), minimum foot clearance (P=0.04), BBS scores (P<0.01), CS-30 scores (P<0.01), and FRT scores (P<0.01) significantly improved in the intervention group compared with values in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Kinect-based exergame developed in this study was found to be effective in improving walking, muscular strength, and balance in elderly people.
authors.affiliation: 1 Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine , Sendai, Japan .|2 Tohoku Fukushi University Faculty of Health Science , Sendai, Japan .
authors.forename: Keizo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: 2 Tohoku Fukushi University Faculty of Health Science , Sendai, Japan .
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuroki
authors.affiliation: 2 Tohoku Fukushi University Faculty of Health Science , Sendai, Japan .
authors.forename: Syuko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saiki
authors.affiliation: 3 Division of Biomedical Engineering for Health & Welfare, Tohoku University Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering , Sendai, Japan .
authors.forename: Ryoichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nagatomi
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control; D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D015444:Exercise; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D018910:Video Games; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*