Kinesiotherapy with Exergaming as a Potential Modulator of Epigenetic Marks and Clinical Functional Variables of Elderly Women: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Kinesiotherapy is an option to mitigate the neuropsychomotor worsening of human aging. Also, exergames are beneficial for the practice of physical therapy of the elderly. There is evidence that physical exercise interventions can alter the epigenome, but little is known about its association with exergames. OBJECTIVE We aim to evaluate the effects of kinesiotherapy with exergaming on elderly women's epigenetic marks and cognitive ability, alongside the effects on clinical functional variables. Our hypothesis states this kind of therapy can elicit equal or even better outcomes than the conventional one. METHODS We will develop a virtual clinic exergame with 8 types of kinesiotherapy exercises. Afterward, we will conduct a 1:1 randomized clinical trial to compare the practice of kinesiotherapy with exergames (intervention group) against conventional kinesiotherapy (control group). A total of 24 elderly women will be enrolled for 1-hour sessions performed twice a week, for 6 weeks, totaling 12 sessions. We will assess outcomes at various stages using epigenetic blood tests, Montreal Cognitive Assessment test, Timed Up and Go test, muscle strength grading in a hydraulic dynamometer, and Game Experience Questionnaire. RESULTS The project was funded at the end of 2019. Game development takes place during 2020. Patient recruitment and clinical trial are planned for 2021. CONCLUSIONS Research on this topic is likely to significantly expand the understanding of kinesiotherapy and the impact of exergames. To our knowledge, this may be one of the first studies exploring epigenetic outcomes of exergaming interventions. CLINICALTRIAL Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry RBR-9tdrmw