Physical exercise intervention for gaming disorder: a systematic review of clinical trials

Gaming disorder (GD) is continuously rising in prevalence with no specific treatment modalities proven most effective yet. Physical exercise (PE) has been used as an additional modality in treating addiction. Our study explores the outcome of PE intervention in treating GD. A structured search of the literature was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement guideline, with a pre-determined search strategy starting from study identification, title and abstract screening, eligibility assessment, and inclusion of relevant study. PubMed, ProQuest, and EBSCO databases were searched in February 2024 with additional manual exploration, using "exercise" and "gaming disorder" as keywords. Three studies were included in the final systematic review, all of which are randomized controlled trials (RCTs). PE interventions were found to be effective in diminishing the score of gaming addiction scale. Improvement of gaming duration and mood were also reported. This study supports PE intervention as a favorable method of adjunctive treatment in GD, especially in reducing GD severity in adolescent and young adult.