A Study to Test the Effectiveness of Different Interventions to Improve Physical Activity in Adults.

Summary

During the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, physical activity (PA) engagement levels declined worldwide. Despite the overwhelming adoption of wearable fitness tracker (WFT) devices, it continues to be unclear as to their effect on PA engagement or PA motivation. Building on past research, we hypothesized that combining a WFT with a known impactful intervention, motivational interviewing (MI) would positively influence both self-determination theory (SDT) motivation and PA during an unprecedented global emergency.

A four-group randomized controlled study was conducted amongst 40 inactive adults over a 12-week period during the COVID-19 pandemic. One group (WFT, n = 10) received a wearable fitness tracker, a second (MI, n=10) received bi-weekly MI sessions, a third (WFT+, n=10) received both, and a fourth (Education, n=10) received basic PA education. Outcome measures for motivation and PA were measured though an online survey before and after the 12-week period.

Conditions

• Healthy

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Motivational Interviewing

The individuals will be scheduled for and participate in six biweekly in person SDT based MI sessions. These sessions will take place in the HPCRL at CSU. The MI sessions will be conducted by a PhD student who has been trained by a MI practitioner. Participants will be provided a log book and will be asked to log their PA, with the goal of completing at least 150 minutes of PA per week. They will set biweekly PA goals, which will be discussed in the MI sessions. These participants will also receive general physical activity guidelines education and information on strategies to reach the recommended amount of activity per week during the initial baseline assessment meeting.

BEHAVIORAL

Education

These participants will receive general physical activity guidelines education and information on strategies to reach the recommended amount of activity per week during the initial baseline assessment meeting. These participants will not do any other study related activities. At the conclusion of the study, these participants will be offered the chance to participate in one MI session.

BEHAVIORAL

Wearable Fitness Trackers

Individuals assigned to this experimental condition will be given a wrist-worn WFT and will be instructed to wear it for the duration of the study. They will also download the corresponding mobile application on their smartphones. They will be trained by a member of our team on how to utilize the WFT and mobile application. The intended WFT tracks daily steps, miles traveled, kcals expended, and daily activity time. This device provides these data to the wearer via a small screen. Participants will be instructed to aim to complete at least 150 minutes of PA per week. Researchers will have the capability to track participant daily PA via the WFT and associated API. These individuals will be asked to set biweekly PA goals. These participants will also receive general physical activity guidelines education and information on strategies to reach the recommended amount of activity per week during the initial baseline assessment meeting.

BEHAVIORAL

Wearable Fitness Tracker+

These individuals will be given the wrist-worn WFT, be instructed to wear it for the duration of the study AND be scheduled for six SDT based MI sessions. These participants will also be trained by a member of our team on how to utilize the WFT and associated application. They will be instructed to aim to complete 150 minutes of PA per week. These participants will be asked to set biweekly PA goals which will be discussed in MI sessions. Researchers will have the capability to track participant daily PA via the WFT and associated API. These participants will also receive general physical activity guidelines education and information on strategies to reach the recommended amount of activity per week during the initial baseline assessment meeting.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Colorado State University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-04-13

Primary Completion

2020-09-21

Completion

2020-09-21

Countries

• United States

Study Locations