Type of active video-games training does not impact the effect on balance and agility in children with and without developmental coordination disorder: A randomized comparator-controlled trial.

AIM: To compare the effect of the Nintendo Wii-Fit and Xbox Kinect on motor performance and to assess differential effects in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and typical development (TD).

METHOD: In an assessor-blinded randomized comparator-controlled design, 68 participants (34 DCD and 34 TD) aged 7-10 years, were randomly assigned to train on one of two devices (34 Wii-Fit; 34 Xbox Kinect).

RESULTS: Repeated measure ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of time on balance and agility variables (MABC-2, Wii Yoga stance, PERF-FIT side-hop, PERF-FIT ladder-stepping; all p  ≤ 0.02), but not on running variables (BOT2-sprint, 10 × 5 m sprint and PERF-FIT ladder running; p  > 0.05). No significant interactions were observed, indicating similar changes on both devices. Overall, 35% of the TD children and 76% of the children with DCD improved on one or more of the outcomes beyond the smallest detectable difference. However, at the individual level, larger differences in improvement were found in the Kinect group compared to the Wii between TD and DCD groups.

CONCLUSION: Both Wii-Fit and Kinect devices can be used to train with similar results on motor performance. An important percentage (76%) of children with DCD improved on at least one motor task after training.