Effects of an mHealth Intervention to Improve Health Behaviors Among Sedentary Workers

Summary

Background: Studies have shown the negative impact of physical inactivity, sedentary and unhealthy eating behavior on worker health and productivity. Sedentary workers are at greater risk of developing chronic diseases due to these behavioral risk factors. The literature moderately supports mHealth interventions for promoting physical activity and healthy diets. However, there is a dearth of research on mHealth interventions targeting the clustering of physical activity, sedentary and dietary behavior among sedentary workers in the occupational setting. Furthermore, there is a lack of evidence on its long-term sustainability and cost-effectiveness on health behaviors as well as health-related and work- related outcomes.

Purpose: To evaluate a 12-week theory-driven, tailored mHealth intervention for improving diet, physical activity and sedentary behavior among sedentary workers. Three specific aims are to: (1) determine intervention participants' perceptions of and engagement with the mHealth program components to understand intervention effects by surveys and focus groups; (2) determine the effectiveness of the mHealth intervention compared to usual care; and (3) determine the cost-effectiveness of the mHealth intervention compared to usual care, using incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs).

Methods: This is a three-year research project. Year 1 is mHealth intervention delivery and evaluation using a quasi-experimental design. Concepts of social cognitive theory of self-regulation and self-efficacy and an ecological model provide the theoretical foundation for the intervention. Year 2 will be primarily to evaluate the intervention. Year 3 will be primarily an international comparison of cost-effectiveness of mHealth interventions to improve diet, physical activity and sedentary behavior for employees.

A total of 100 sedentary workers (50 per condition) will be recruited from two workplaces. The intervention group will have access to the Internet for using a newly developed Simple health web app and receive an activity tracker. A sample of 100 is required to detect differences in primary outcomes: cardiometabolic risk biomarkers, productivity loss, body composition, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and dietary behavior; and secondary outcomes: self-report self-efficacy and self-regulation, at baseline, 3-, 12-, and 24-month follow up. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) will be used to examine intervention effects over time.

Conditions

• Intervention Study
• Health Behavior

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

mHealth Intervention

The mHealth Intervention will provide sedentary workers with evidence-based information on diet, physical activity and sedentary behavior, and tailored feedback on their responses to daily records. Key features of this intervention will include individualized feedback and multimedia presentation in the form of web app. The intervention group will also receive a reliable device for wireless physical activity tracking for monitoring step counts. The web app will consist of seven major components: (1) daily healthy eating goals and records; (2) daily physical activity goals and records; (3) daily stand-up goals and records; (4) advice and reminder; (5) educational and motivational tools; (6) personal and team health ranking; and (7) online social network. In addition, the intervention will be enhanced with follow-up booster coaching calls bi-monthly at 2, 4, 6, 8 months after the 12-week intervention.

BEHAVIORAL

Control Intervention

The control intervention group will receive educational tools, which will provide knowledge on benefits of physical activity and healthy eating, health risks of sitting and unhealthy diets, and recommendations on physical activity and a balanced healthy diet for good health.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• China Medical University, Taiwan

  collaborator OTHER

• China Medical University Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Yun-Ping Lin, PhD · China Medical University, Taiwan

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

20 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-04-27

Primary Completion

2022-07-31

Completion

2022-12-31

Countries

• Taiwan

Study Locations