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Effect of Pokémon Go on Self-Harm Using Population-Based Interrupted Time-Series Analysis: Quasi-Experimental Study

BACKGROUND: Pokémon Go is a very popular location-based augmented reality game with widespread influences over the world. An emerging body of research demonstrates that playing Pokémon Go can lead to improvements in physical activity and psychosocial well-being; however, whether Pokémon Go reduces s...

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Autores principales: Wong, Rosa Sze Man, Ho, Frederick Ka Wing, Tung, Keith Tsz Suen, Fu, King-Wa, Ip, Patrick
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7320302/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32530429
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/17112
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author Wong, Rosa Sze Man
Ho, Frederick Ka Wing
Tung, Keith Tsz Suen
Fu, King-Wa
Ip, Patrick
author_facet Wong, Rosa Sze Man
Ho, Frederick Ka Wing
Tung, Keith Tsz Suen
Fu, King-Wa
Ip, Patrick
author_sort Wong, Rosa Sze Man
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Pokémon Go is a very popular location-based augmented reality game with widespread influences over the world. An emerging body of research demonstrates that playing Pokémon Go can lead to improvements in physical activity and psychosocial well-being; however, whether Pokémon Go reduces self-harm incidence at the population-level is still questionable. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to quantify how the launch of Pokémon Go in Hong Kong affected the incidence of self-harm using a quasi-experimental design. METHODS: An interrupted time-series design with Poisson segmented regression adjusted for time and seasonality trends was used on data from 2012 to 2018 to detect any changes in the number of accident and emergency attendances due to self-harm, after Pokémon Go was launched. The findings were validated using a baseline control period and using other intentional injuries and minor noninjuries as control outcomes. We also assessed intervention effects by age group. RESULTS: From January 1, 2012 to July 31, 2018, there were 13,463 accident and emergency attendances due to self-harm in Hong Kong. During the period after launching Pokémon Go, self-harm attendances dropped by 34% (adjusted incidence rate ratio: 0.66, 95% CI 0.61-0.73). When analyzed by age group, a reduction in self-harm incidence was only apparent in adults (18 to 24 years of age: adjusted incidence rate ratio: 0.78, P=.02; 25 to 39 years of age: adjusted incidence rate ratio: 0.75, P<.001; 40 years of age and older: adjusted incidence rate ratio: 0.57, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Self-harm incidence in the population, particularly in adults, showed a significant decline in the period after Pokémon Go was launched. Augmented reality games such as Pokémon Go show great promise as a tool to enhance psychosocial well-being and improve mental health.
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spelling pubmed-73203022020-07-01 Effect of Pokémon Go on Self-Harm Using Population-Based Interrupted Time-Series Analysis: Quasi-Experimental Study Wong, Rosa Sze Man Ho, Frederick Ka Wing Tung, Keith Tsz Suen Fu, King-Wa Ip, Patrick JMIR Serious Games Original Paper BACKGROUND: Pokémon Go is a very popular location-based augmented reality game with widespread influences over the world. An emerging body of research demonstrates that playing Pokémon Go can lead to improvements in physical activity and psychosocial well-being; however, whether Pokémon Go reduces self-harm incidence at the population-level is still questionable. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to quantify how the launch of Pokémon Go in Hong Kong affected the incidence of self-harm using a quasi-experimental design. METHODS: An interrupted time-series design with Poisson segmented regression adjusted for time and seasonality trends was used on data from 2012 to 2018 to detect any changes in the number of accident and emergency attendances due to self-harm, after Pokémon Go was launched. The findings were validated using a baseline control period and using other intentional injuries and minor noninjuries as control outcomes. We also assessed intervention effects by age group. RESULTS: From January 1, 2012 to July 31, 2018, there were 13,463 accident and emergency attendances due to self-harm in Hong Kong. During the period after launching Pokémon Go, self-harm attendances dropped by 34% (adjusted incidence rate ratio: 0.66, 95% CI 0.61-0.73). When analyzed by age group, a reduction in self-harm incidence was only apparent in adults (18 to 24 years of age: adjusted incidence rate ratio: 0.78, P=.02; 25 to 39 years of age: adjusted incidence rate ratio: 0.75, P<.001; 40 years of age and older: adjusted incidence rate ratio: 0.57, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Self-harm incidence in the population, particularly in adults, showed a significant decline in the period after Pokémon Go was launched. Augmented reality games such as Pokémon Go show great promise as a tool to enhance psychosocial well-being and improve mental health. JMIR Publications 2020-06-12 /pmc/articles/PMC7320302/ /pubmed/32530429 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/17112 Text en ©Rosa Sze Man Wong, Frederick Ka Wing Ho, Keith Tsz Suen Tung, King-Wa Fu, Patrick Ip. Originally published in JMIR Serious Games (http://games.jmir.org), 12.06.2020. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Serious Games, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://games.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Wong, Rosa Sze Man
Ho, Frederick Ka Wing
Tung, Keith Tsz Suen
Fu, King-Wa
Ip, Patrick
Effect of Pokémon Go on Self-Harm Using Population-Based Interrupted Time-Series Analysis: Quasi-Experimental Study
title Effect of Pokémon Go on Self-Harm Using Population-Based Interrupted Time-Series Analysis: Quasi-Experimental Study
title_full Effect of Pokémon Go on Self-Harm Using Population-Based Interrupted Time-Series Analysis: Quasi-Experimental Study
title_fullStr Effect of Pokémon Go on Self-Harm Using Population-Based Interrupted Time-Series Analysis: Quasi-Experimental Study
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Pokémon Go on Self-Harm Using Population-Based Interrupted Time-Series Analysis: Quasi-Experimental Study
title_short Effect of Pokémon Go on Self-Harm Using Population-Based Interrupted Time-Series Analysis: Quasi-Experimental Study
title_sort effect of pokémon go on self-harm using population-based interrupted time-series analysis: quasi-experimental study
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7320302/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32530429
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/17112
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