Pokémon Go did not increase step count or distance travelled among college students

Abstract

Purpose. Physical inactivity is a well-known problem in the United States, especially among the younger population. Pokémon Go (PG) is a mobile game that has players catch Pokémon while walking in the real world. the purpose of this study was to assess the effect of playing PG on student physical activity. Methods. Overall, 27 healthy undergraduate students participated in a 2-week study. they were randomly assigned to either PG-playing group or control group. Fitbit Charge HR devices were deployed for 2 weeks to all participants. the daily number of steps and distance travelled were recorded and the groups were compared by using the bootstrapped t-test. Results. No statistically significant difference in means was observed when comparing the average daily step count (p = 0.845) or the average daily distance travelled (p = 0.528) between control and PG-playing participants. Furthermore, the mean difference was close to 0 for each comparison, with 95% confidence intervals of-2072 to 2438 steps and-0.609 to 1.31 km, respectively. Conclusions. PG did not lead to a statistically observable increase in the number of steps or distance travelled by university students. these results may provide an impetus to create alternative interventions with better user engagement by applying mobile health apps with the intent to reach low-activity populations.

Educating Adults with a Location-Based Augmented Reality Game: A Content Analysis Approach

“…Probably, the most extensively studied Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) game is Pokémon Go. Schade et al [11] evaluated the influence of playing Pokémon Go on the physical activity of students and found that the amount of distance travelled by university students did not increase. Madrigal-Pana et al [12] examined the perception of videogames and the use of Pokémon Go in Costa Rica and identified positive and negative perceptions of videogames mediated by age and level of education and that attitudes towards videogame playing depended on age and gender.…”

Effects of Pokémon GO on Physical Activity and Psychological and Social Outcomes: A Systematic Review

“…In this case, only the parent article was included. Finally, 36 articles [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ] were included for this review.…”

“…In 14 studies [ 25 , 26 , 29 , 32 , 34 , 36 , 38 , 40 , 43 , 45 , 47 , 50 , 52 , 53 ], PA was assessed solely with subjective measures such as the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Eight studies [ 21 , 24 , 28 , 30 , 33 , 35 , 39 , 41 ], incorporated only objective measures to assess participants’ PA such as pedometers, accelerometers, wrist or arm-worn activity sensors, heart rate monitors, and mobile applications, such as the iPhone Health app, step-counting app, and ecological momentary assessment app. Finally, five studies [ 23 , 37 , 46 , 48 , 49 ] incorporated both subjective and objective assessments of PA, in which most of the objective measures used health or step-counting mobile applications.…”

Educating Αdults with an Augmented Reality Game: Α Content Analysis Approach

“…Probably, the most extensively studied Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) game is Pokémon Go. Schade et al [11] evaluated the influence of playing Pokémon Go on the physical activity of students and found that the amount of steps or distances travelled by university students did not increase. Madrigal-Pana et al [12] examined the perception of videogames and the use of Pokémon Go in Costa Rica and identified positive and negative perceptions of videogames mediated by age and level of education and that attitudes towards videogame playing depended on age and gender.…”