Using Internet and Mobile Phone Technology to Deliver an Automated Physical Activity Program: Randomized Controlled Trial

By Robert Hurling, M. Catt, M. De Boni, B. W. Fairley, T. Hurst, Peter Murray, Alannah Richardson, Jaspreet Singh Sodhi. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2007

596 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Background The Internet has potential as a medium for health behavior change programs, but no controlled studies have yet evaluated the impact of a fully automated physical activity intervention over several months with real-time objective feedback from a monitor. Objective The aim was to evaluate the impact of a physical activity program based on the Internet and mobile phone technology provided to individuals for 9 weeks. Methods A single-center, randomized, stratified controlled trial was conducted from September to December 2005 in Bedfordshire, United Kingdom, with 77 healthy adults whose mean age was 40.4 years (SD = 7.6) and mean body mass index was 26.3 (SD = 3.4). Participants were randomized to a test group that had access to an Internet and mobile phone–based physical activity program (n = 47) or to a control group (n = 30) that received no support. The test group received tailored solutions for perceived barriers, a schedule to plan weekly exercise sessions with mobile phone and email reminders, a message board to share their experiences with others, and feedback on their level of physical activity. Both groups were issued a wrist-worn accelerometer to monitor their level of physical activity; only the test group received real-time feedback via the Internet. The main outcome measures were accelerometer data and self-report of physical activity. Results At the end of the study period, the test group reported a significantly greater increase over baseline than did the control group for perceived control (P < .001) and intention/expectation to exercise (P < .001). Intent-to-treat analyses of both the accelerometer data (P = .02) and leisure time self-report data (P = .03) found a higher level of moderate physical activity in the test group. The average increase (over the control group) in accelerometer-measured moderate physical activity was 2 h 18 min per week. The test group also lost more percent body fat than the control group (test group: −2.18, SD = 0.59; control group: −0.17, SD = 0.81; P = .04). Conclusions A fully automated Internet and mobile phone–based motivation and action support system can significantly increase and maintain the level of physical activity in healthy adults.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, General Health Professions, Physiology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ea8f46f6ef50610a6d47798f434fe849383138b0

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Citations in the corpus

Mapping mHealth Research: A Decade of Evolution (2013, background): “The final sample for the full-text review included 117 [17-133] articles out of the 352 described above.”
Adherence to a Smartphone Application for Weight Loss Compared to Website and Paper Diary: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial (2013, background): “Researchers have investigated text message short message service (SMS) interventions to promote change in diet [7-9] and physical activity [10,11].”
How to evaluate technologies for health behavior change in HCI research (2011, background): “For example, a recent systematic review by van der Berg and colleagues [5] For example, Hurling and colleagues [21] recently used a small RCT to evaluate a system for encouraging physical activity that combined a wrist-worn accelerometer, a mobile phone, and a web application that implemented…”
A Text Message–Based Intervention for Weight Loss: Randomized Controlled Trial (2009, background): “In a randomized controlled trial of an Internet and mobile phone–based physical activity intervention among overweight adults that included reminders for exercise sessions sent via cell phone, experimental participants engaged in over 2 hours more physical activity per week than those with no access”
A Behavior Change Model for Internet Interventions (2009, background): “The use of prompts has significant potential, particularly given the possible integration of mobile phones, PDAs, pagers, and other wireless devices that can all be employed in the deliverance of prompts [29, 30].”
Exploring goal-setting, rewards, self-monitoring, and sharing to motivate physical activity (2012, background): “Participants in [13] received tailored exercise solutions, weekly exercise planning, and reminders of the plan on their computers and phones; they exercised two hours more per week than those not receiving this support.”
Using the Internet to Promote Health Behavior Change: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Impact of Theoretical Basis, Use of Behavior Change Techniques, and Mode of Delivery on Efficacy (2010, background): “Text messages were highly effective and used in several ways: to promote interaction with the intervention [4,5], send motivational messages (eg, reminders of the benefits of exercise [37]), challenge dysfunctional beliefs [71], or provide a cue to action [35].”
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