Effects of Virtual Reality Exercise on Promoting Physical Activity and Health Among College Students

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Status: Completed

Conditions: Depressive Symptoms; Cardiovascular Fitness; Situational Motivation; Physical Activity Levels; Mood States; Situational Interest; Body Composition

Treatments: Other: Usual routine; Device: VR-based exercise bike

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06902727

STUDY00010580

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this research is to examine the effectiveness of a 4-week immersive-virtual reality (VR) exercise bike intervention on college students' physiological outcomes (physical activity levels, cardiovascular fitness, and body composition) and psychological outcomes (situational motivation, situational interest, mood states, and depressive symptoms).

Enrollment: 36 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 35 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• College students age from 18 to 35 years old who are currently enrolled in the university
• College students without diagnosed physical and/or mental disabilities
• Must be willing to provide informed consent and compete the PA Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q)
• Must be willing to be randomized into an intervention or control group
• no self-reported motion sickness symptoms during immersive VR-based exercise

Exclusion criteria

• Students under the age of 18 or over the age of 35 years old or not currently enrolled in the university
• Having self-reported physical and/or mental disabilities
• Contradictions to PA participation as determined by PAR-Q responses
• having motion sickness reaction when exercising under VR-based condition.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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36 participants in 2 patient groups

Exercise on immersive VR-based bike

Experimental group

Description:

Participants were asked to exercise on an immersive VR-based exercise bike for one hour per session, two times per week, for 4 weeks

Treatment:

Device: VR-based exercise bike

Usual routine

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants in the control group were asked to maintain their usual routine after the baseline test for 4 weeks. Participants were scheduled separately coming to lab for the post-test after 4 weeks and all participants received the identical assessments in aforementioned physiological and psychological outcomes.

Treatment:

Other: Usual routine