Feasibility, Acceptability and the Effects of Two Publicly Available Physical Activity Mobile Apps

Summary

Within the new digital health care landscape, the rise of health applications (apps) creates novel prospects for behaviour change opportunities. The commercial market is saturated with apps that aim to increase physical activity (PA) with more than 49,000 PA apps available in the major app stores in 2016 \[1\]. Despite the wide distribution and popularity of PA apps, research on the efficacy of the apps is lacking.

This project focuses on exploring the potential for increasing PA levels using 2 selected apps that are available on the market with participants that do not engage or perform very little PA. This study is timely because PA apps on the market are extremely popular and there is a clear need to this the potential of these potentially convenient, accessible, wide-reaching, and cost-effective technology.

Before a large scale study is conducted, it is crucial to conduct assessment of the feasibility and acceptability of the study \[2\]. Feasibility determines if the study design, procedures, and the intervention can be executed by the researcher. Acceptability assesses the suitability of the study design, procedures, and the intervention from the perspective of the participants and intervention deliverers \[3\]. Hence, this mixed-methods feasibility study was designed to inform a decision about whether to proceed to a large-scale study. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a study assessing 2 selected PA apps to inform the design of a definitive RCT, and to assess the effects of the app interventions on PA

Conditions

• PHYSICAL FITNESS

Interventions

DEVICE

Exercise app: 7 Minute Workout Challenge

7 Minute Workout Challenge by Fitness Guide Inc. combines aerobic and resistance training into short, 7 minute high intensity circuit training.

DEVICE

Running app: One You Couch to 5K

One You Couch to 5K by Public Health England is a popular app that aims to increase fitness by asking the user to follow a running programme with a goal to run for 30 min without break.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Medical Research Council

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• University College, London

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Fiona Hamilton, MD, PhD · University College, London

• Elizabeth Murray, MD, PhD · University College, London

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-01-05

Primary Completion

2018-07-18

Completion

2018-07-28

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations