Does A Single Session Of A Dance Exergame Improve Anxiety State Levels On Healthy Young Women?

Single-arm studies have identified dance exergames as an effective tool to improve state anxiety levels in young women. However, little is known about their effects when compared to a non-exercise control condition. PURPOSE: To compare the effects of a single session of a dance exergame versus a non-exercise control condition on the state anxiety levels of healthy young women. METHODS: Thirteen healthy young women (26.2 ± 6.5 years; 24.50 ± 3.40 kg/m2) participated in a randomized order in 20 minutes of the dance exergame Zumba Fitness using the Xbox 360 Kinect system and a non-exercise control condition (resting in a chair and listening to the same songs played in the exergame condition). State anxiety was assessed before and after both the exergame and control conditions using the 20-item state anxiety component from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Heart rate was continuously measured during both the exergame and control conditions by a heart rate monitor. A base-10 logarithm of state anxiety level values was used to conduct a repeated measures ANOVA with two within-group factors (condition x time) to compare differences between sessions over time. Statistical significance was set at p lower than 0.05. RESULTS: There was a significant interaction between condition and time (F [1,12] = 11.442; p = 0.005; ω2 = 0.035; small effect). The Bonferroni post hoc test showed that state anxiety levels decreased (42 ± 14 vs. 33 ± 6; mean change: -8 ± 11, p = 0.012) after the dance exergame condition but not after the control condition (38 ± 12 vs. 36 ± 9; mean change: -1 ± 5, p = 1.000). State anxiety levels were similar between the dance exergame and control condition both pre- and post-session; however, the decline in the dance exergame condition was greater (mean difference: -7 ± 8, p = 0.011) than that from the control condition. Mean participant heart rates during the exergame and control sessions, according to American College of Sports Medicine criteria, were classified as moderate (65 ± 8% of maximal heart rate) and very light (41 ± 6% of maximal heart rate), respectively. CONCLUSION: A single session of the dance exergame Zumba Fitness contributes to reduced state anxiety levels in healthy women when compared to a non-exercise control condition.