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The effects and viability of video games on the rehabilitation of schizophrenic patients: a systematic review

Publication . Pinto, Gonçalo; Barroso, Bárbara; Rodrigues, Nuno F.; Guimarães, Manuel; Oliveira, Eva

Background: Schizophrenia is the most common psychotic illness in the world. The negative and cognitive symptoms of this mental disorder often prevent full reintegration of patients into society, and cannot be effectively addressed with drugs alone, relying on therapy and rehabilitation. Video games as a digital tool for rehabilitation and therapy can help promote accessibility, improve patient engagement and reduce costs to institutions. Methods: A systematic review was conducted from October to November 2022 to analyze the effects of video game based rehabilitation and therapy on negative and cognitive symptoms in schizophrenic patients. The databases used to perform the search were Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science, with the search query: Schizophrenia AND (Video Game OR Serious Game). Results: A total of 228 papers were found, of which 88 duplicates were removed. After reading the titles and abstracts of the remaining 140 papers, 116 were excluded for not meeting the defined eligibility criteria for the review. Of the 24 papers left, 20 were excluded for similar reasons, resulting in the inclusion of four studies in this systematic review Conclusion: The available data for this review was limited, highlighting a need for more research in the field as well as standardization of terms used to describe the digital tools developed and assessment methods used to gather results from these interventions. Nevertheless, statistical data from the four studies included in this review showed that serious games are a promising tool for the rehabilitation and therapy of negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenic patients, with significant effects on the patients’ performance and motivation.

2023Conference paper

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