The effectiveness of the use of video games and software-based programs for asthma education and self-management for children and teenagers: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this work is to evaluate the quality of the existent evidence in the literature in order to support the use of videogames and software-based programson asthmatic children and teenager’s knowlesge capacity and self-management compared with standard education Data sources and study selection: Search, selection and analysis (starting March 2016) of all the original articles on virtual reality concerning asthmatic children and adolescents (ages 3 to 18), published up to October 2017, in Portuguese, English and Spanish, at the electronic databases Pubmed, Web of Science, MedlLine and LILACS, obtained by using the descriptors: asthma, video game, virtual reality, pulmonary rehabilitation, physical training. Results: Only seven original articles were obtained. Of these, six (85%) presented level of evidence A, one (15%) presented level of evidence B and no article presented level of evidence C. All authors point out the treatment of asthma from VR as a safe and innovative therapy considering that the motivation and intensity of treatment from the use of VR improves the self-management capacity and aerobic capacity of asthmatic patients. Conclusion: The present study seeks to contribute to the literature by demonstrating that videogames and other software-based systemscan be used to improve knowledge capacity and self-management skills in children and teenagers with asthma diagnosis.