Objective: Exergames appear to be a promising tool to increase energy expenditure and physical fitness. However, less is known about the effect of a single session of an exergame on anxiety state. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a single session of the exergame Zumba^® Fitness (Xbox 360 Kinect^®) on the anxiety state of healthy young women. Materials and Methods: Forty healthy young women (22.9 ± 3.7 years; 62.43 ± 8.75 kg; 1.64 ± 0.06 m; 23.05 ± 2.75 kg/m²; O₂max of 41.23 ± 10.61 mL/kg/min) performed ∼20 minutes of the exergame Zumba Fitness using the Xbox 360 Kinect. The state anxiety (State Anxiety Inventory) and level of enjoyment (Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale) were evaluated before and after intervention. Rating perceived exertion (Borg scale) and heart rate (HR) were also tracked and collected. Results: A single exergame session significantly reduced the state anxiety of the participants (P = 0.0230, effect size = 0.62, CI 0.34–0.90). However, no statistically significant correlation was found between enjoyment and absolute (r = −0.10, P = 0.5345) or relative change in state anxiety (r = −0.17, P = 0.2869). A moderate positive correlation was found between enjoyment and performance in the exergame Zumba Fitness (r = 0.59, P = 0.0001). The mean HR during exergames was 137 ± 19 bpm (∼70% of predicted HRmax). Conclusions: The exergame Zumba Fitness seems to be a useful tool to reduce state anxiety in a nonclinical sample of healthy women.

The study aimed to evaluate the effects of chemotherapy treatment on muscle strength, quality of life, fatigue, and anxiety in women with breast cancer. Nineteen women who were undergoing a chemotherapy treatment (breast cancer treatment [BCT] group, 52.2 ± 13.1 years) and 18 women without cancer (control [CNT] group, 55.8 ± 8.4 years) answered questionnaires for evaluation of fatigue (Fatigue Scale), quality of life (Short-Form Healthy Survey [SF-36] questionnaire), and anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [IDATE]) levels. Muscle strength was also assessed by an isometric grip test and an isokinetic knee extension test. Physical limitations, social and emotional domains of quality of life were lower in the BCT group in comparison to the CNT group (p = 0.002; p = 0.003; p = 0.0003, respectively). The other domains did not differ between groups (p > 0.05). There were no differences in fatigue and anxiety levels between both the BCT and CNT groups (p > 0.05). Additionally, isometric grip strength was higher in the CNT group when compared to the BCT group (p = 0.048). However, there were no differences between the BCT and CNT groups for peak torque and total work at both 60°.s⁻¹ (p = 0.95 and p = 0.61, respectively) and 180°.s⁻¹ (p = 0.94 and p = 0.72, respectively). These results suggest that three cycles of chemotherapy treatment may impair handgrip isometric strength and quality of life in women with breast cancer.