» Articles » PMID: 30135818

Gamification for Health and Wellbeing: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Overview
Journal Internet Interv
Date 2018 Aug 24
PMID 30135818
Citations 241
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Background: Compared to traditional persuasive technology and health games, gamification is posited to offer several advantages for motivating behaviour change for health and well-being, and increasingly used. Yet little is known about its effectiveness.

Aims: We aimed to assess the amount and quality of empirical support for the advantages and effectiveness of gamification applied to health and well-being.

Methods: We identified seven potential advantages of gamification from existing research and conducted a systematic literature review of empirical studies on gamification for health and well-being, assessing quality of evidence, effect type, and application domain.

Results: We identified 19 papers that report empirical evidence on the effect of gamification on health and well-being. 59% reported positive, 41% mixed effects, with mostly moderate or lower quality of evidence provided. Results were clear for health-related behaviours, but mixed for cognitive outcomes.

Conclusions: The current state of evidence supports that gamification can have a positive impact in health and wellbeing, particularly for health behaviours. However several studies report mixed or neutral effect. Findings need to be interpreted with caution due to the relatively small number of studies and methodological limitations of many studies (e.g., a lack of comparison of gamified interventions to non-gamified versions of the intervention).

Citing Articles

PhantomAR: gamified mixed reality system for alleviating phantom limb pain in upper limb amputees-design, implementation, and clinical usability evaluation.

Prahm C, Eckstein K, Bressler M, Wang Z, Li X, Suzuki T J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2025; 22(1):21.

PMID: 39905543 PMC: 11796004. DOI: 10.1186/s12984-025-01554-7.


Utilizing large-scale human mobility data to identify determinants of physical activity.

Ioannou G, Pallis G, Dikaiakos M, Nicolaides C Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):3420.

PMID: 39870707 PMC: 11772751. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-87017-4.


Effectiveness of Mobile Health-Based Gamification Interventions for Improving Physical Activity in Individuals With Cardiovascular Diseases: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Yu T, Parry M, Yu T, Xu L, Wu Y, Zeng T JMIR Serious Games. 2025; 13:e64410.

PMID: 39854099 PMC: 11806271. DOI: 10.2196/64410.


Effect of digital health applications with or without gamification on physical activity and cardiometabolic risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Nishi S, Kavanagh M, Ramboanga K, Ayoub-Charette S, Modol S, Dias G EClinicalMedicine. 2025; 76():102798.

PMID: 39764571 PMC: 11701442. DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102798.


User-centered adaption of , A novel mhealth application integrating medication reminders with virtual peer support and social/financial incentives to improve medication adherence.

Idigbe I, Were M, Pierce L, Ekelem C, Nmoh A, Gbaja-Biamila T AIDS Care. 2025; 37(2):263-278.

PMID: 39761419 PMC: 11809558. DOI: 10.1080/09540121.2024.2445789.


References
1.
Huppert F, So T . Flourishing Across Europe: Application of a New Conceptual Framework for Defining Well-Being. Soc Indic Res. 2013; 110(3):837-861. PMC: 3545194. DOI: 10.1007/s11205-011-9966-7. View

2.
Schulte P, Guerin R, Schill A, Bhattacharya A, Cunningham T, Pandalai S . Considerations for Incorporating "Well-Being" in Public Policy for Workers and Workplaces. Am J Public Health. 2015; 105(8):e31-44. PMC: 4504308. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302616. View

3.
Middelweerd A, Mollee J, Wal C, Brug J, Te Velde S . Apps to promote physical activity among adults: a review and content analysis. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2014; 11:97. PMC: 4132213. DOI: 10.1186/s12966-014-0097-9. View

4.
DeSmet A, Van Ryckeghem D, Compernolle S, Baranowski T, Thompson D, Crombez G . A meta-analysis of serious digital games for healthy lifestyle promotion. Prev Med. 2014; 69:95-107. PMC: 4403732. DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.08.026. View

5.
Stevens G, Mascarenhas M, Mathers C . Global health risks: progress and challenges. Bull World Health Organ. 2009; 87(9):646. PMC: 2739926. DOI: 10.2471/blt.09.070565. View