A Preliminary Study on the Respiratory Benefits of Adaptive Video Gaming in Individuals with Cervical Spinal Cord Injuries

Background and/or Objectives: The purpose of this study was to collect preliminary data to assess whether participation in adaptive video gaming using a pneumatic sip-and-puff video game controller may provide respiratory or health benefits for individuals with cervical level spinal cord injuries.

Design: Cross-sectional study

Setting: Community

Participants: 124 individuals with a cervical level spinal cord injury who currently use a pneumatic sip-and-puff video game controller.

Interventions: Not applicable

Main Outcome Measures: Participant responses from a survey consisting of four sections: (1) General Information, (2) Gaming Habits, (3) Respiratory Quality of Life, and (4) Impact of Adaptive Video Gaming on Respiratory Health.

Results: Participants had a primarily positive self-rated health and good respiratory quality of life. Nearly half of participants (47.6%) Agreed or Strongly Agreed that their breathing control has improved after using their sip-and-puff gaming controller and 45.2% Agreed or Strongly Agreed that their respiratory health has improved. Individuals who Agreed or Strongly Agreed that adaptive video gaming has improved their breathing control also reported a significantly higher level of exertion while gaming compared to those who did not Agree or Strongly Agree (p=0.00029).

Conclusions: It is possible that there are respiratory benefits of using pneumatic sip-and-puff video game controllers for individuals with cervical level spinal cord injuries. The benefits reported by users were found to be dependent on their level of exertion while playing video games. Further exploration in this area is needed due to the positive benefits reported by participants. Future studies should include a longitudinal study design with objective measurements of respiratory function and level of exertion by participants.