While the Wii Fit — the Nintendo video game balance board that came to popularity in the early 2010s — may no longer be used by teens across America, one University of South Florida researcher is looking to see the specific benefits it may have on cancer patients.
Dr. Hsiao-Lan Wang, an associate professor at the College of Nursing at USF Health, received a $2.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study the effect of gaming consoles such as the Wii Fit, Nintendo Switch or Xbox Kinect could have on a cancer patient's pain and fatigue.
She will specifically be studying if the consoles, which will be in a "PAfitME" system, will help patients with head and neck cancers alleviate any fatigue and pain that comes with treatment.
"When I developed this program, I thought, 'If I could help the patient to moderate the fatigue or pain, than I can help a lot of individuals with the symptoms,'" Wang said. "I can use the available gaming system such as the Wii Fit, which is not produced anymore, but still in a lot of people's living rooms and also the Nintendo Switch."
The study, called "A Motion Exergaming Approach to Promote Self-Managing Fatigue and Pain after Head and Neck Cancer Treatment,” will last five years and have 150 participants. Half of those will use the PAfitME system, in addition to receiving educational materials on cancer survivorship and gaming equipment. The other half receive a personalized program that includes FaceTime calls and home visits from researchers in addition to using the gaming system.
Researchers will check the participants' pain and fatigue at the start and end of a six-week period, while also reviewing the participants' lower extremity flexibility, upper extremity range of motion and grip strength.
The participants will have had to complete radiation or chemotherapy within 30 days of the study and be experiencing moderate to severe fatigue and pain.
Wang said while the study will specifically focus on head and neck cancer patients, she believes the results could extend to a plethora of other cancer patients as well.
"I can develop a personalized prescription of the physical activity program that they can really engage with, that can reduce the pain and fatigue," she said. "We found in this application, if we can help this group, we can help a lot others. People we have found the Wii Fit really help patients with balance and some of it can help aerobic fitness."
