Systematic Review on the Effects of Serious Games and Wearable Technology Used in Rehabilitation of Patients With Traumatic Bone and Soft Tissue Injuries

Objective: To assess the effects on functional outcomes and treatment adherence of wearable technology and serious games (ie, interactive computer applications with specific purposes useful in the "real world") currently used in physical rehabilitation of patients after traumatic bone and soft tissue injuries.

Data sources: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Current Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature were searched without publication date restrictions for the terms wearable, serious game, videogame or mobile application, and rehabilitation, exercise therapy, and physiotherapy.

Study selection: The search yielded 2704 eligible articles, which were screened by 2 independent reviewers. Studies comparing serious games to standard therapy were included.

Data extraction: Methodology and results of the studies were critically appraised in conformity with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Data synthesis: Twelve articles were included, all of which tested "off-the-shelf" games. No studies on "wearable-controlled" games or games specifically developed for rehabilitation could be included. Medical conditions included postoperative rehabilitation and acute traumatic injuries. All studies were of low to moderate quality. Only 2 studies found beneficial effects of serious games compared to conventional therapy. One of 3 studies reporting pain scores found beneficial effects of serious games compared to physiotherapy. One of 5 trials reporting treatment adherence found a statistically significant advantage in the game group compared to conventional physiotherapy. Because of heterogeneity in study design and outcome measures, pooling of data was not possible.

Conclusions: Serious games seem a safe alternative or addition to conventional physiotherapy after traumatic bone and soft tissue injuries. Future research should determine their validity and effectiveness in rehabilitation therapy, next to their cost-effectiveness and effect on treatment adherence.