The Effects of a Mobile-Application Based Physical Activity Intervention in PLWH

Summary

A series of adverse physical and mental health effects are often reported among people living with HIV (PLWH) as a consequence of the infection and ART use. Physical activity (PA) has been linked to improved physical an mental health in PLWH. However, Most interventions in the HIV literature evaluating the effects of PA on physical and mental health have included face-to-face supervised exercise in highly controlled environments which is not representative of how the majority of this population engages in PA. Mobile application (app) and text-message based PA interventions are a safe and innovative approach for the delivery of PA programs aimed at improving physical and mental health without the need of direct supervision. Nonetheless, the use of these types of interventions have not been well evaluated in PLWH. Therefore the purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a 12-week mobile app and text-based PA intervention on physical and mental health in PLWH.

Participants in the PA group will be given a PA program delivered through a mobile health app which will be accessed through smartphones. As part of the program, weekly text messages will be sent to encourage PA participation. The goal of the intervention is to increase moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) by at least 150 weekly/mins. The PA program will also include muscle strengthening exercises. Investigators expect improvements in mental health outcomes (i.e., depressive symptoms and HRQoL) and cardiometabolic outcomes (i.e., cardio-autonomic function, body fat percentage, physical activity, and functional exercise capacity) in the PA group when compared to the CON group at the end of 12-weeks.

Conditions

• HIV

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Physical activity

The goal for week one will be to increase moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) by 90 weekly/mins, and by 120 weekly/mins on week two. This amount of time will provide the participant with an adaptation period. The goal for weeks 3-12 will be to increase MVPA by at least 150 weekly/mins. The prescribed aerobic activities can be performed either: 1) outdoors (e.g., walking or cycling), 2) at home (e.g., in-place jogging, dancing, aerobics), or 3) with available exercise equipment if the participant already has this access. Participants will perform a series of 6 to 8 muscle strengthening (MS) exercises for the major muscle groups using elastic bands and their own bodyweight 3 times per week. All MS activities will be depicted in instructional videos available through the app. Participants will be asked to perform 2 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions (reps) per exercise during weeks 1-3, 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps per exercise during weeks 3-7, and 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps per exercise during weeks 8-12.

BEHAVIORAL

Education control

Participants in the education CON group will be asked to perform their usual activities and to not engage in additional PA during the intervention. Participants will receive weekly brochures and reading materials including topics related to living with HIV, healthy eating, stress management, and current Federal PA guidelines for Americans. The brochures and reading materials will be available through the BluejayEngage health web-based platform app.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• City University of New York

  collaborator OTHER

• Queens College, The City University of New York

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Norberto Quiles, Ed.D. · Queens College of The City University of New York

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-08-31

Primary Completion

2022-12-31

Completion

2022-12-31