Exploratory study of a virtual community for physical activity

Abstract

Physical inactivity is increasingly becoming part of today’s lifestyle, leading to a rapid increase in the incidence of diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. These chronic diseases are, for the most part, preventable by adopting a healthy lifestyle including regular physical activity. To help people maintain appropriate physical activity levels, researchers are developing interventions based on concepts from social science and ICT solutions. In this line, we investigate virtual communities (or social networks) as a candidate solution to support people in achieving their daily physical activity goals. This study observes and explores the differences between using the virtual community and a physical activity monitoring system on the physical activity level. We designed an exploratory study with a duration of 9 weeks in which an intervention group used a virtual community with a physical activity monitoring system and a control group used only a physical activity monitoring system. The results of this exploratory study demonstrate that using virtual communities may motivate and support people in their daily physical activity; in particular, we observed a decrease in the use of the system later than was observed in previous studies. Future investigations are needed to confirm the effect of the virtual community on physical activity.

Physical activity levels in men with Haemophilia—A single centre UK survey

“…For the general population, recommendations for PA are 150 minutes of moderate‐intensity activity a week and two muscle‐strengthening activities twice a week 5 . Despite these recommendations, PA across developed nations remains low 6 in spite of many strategies and interventions 7 . The financial burden to the NHS of inactivity in the general population is estimated to be £450 million and growing 8…”

Mental health of older people in social isolation: the role of physical activity at home during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Interventions based on the face-to-face counselling or group sessions have proven to be the most effective to motivate and assist physical exercise in independently living older adults [ 50 ]. Therefore, virtual communities (or social networks) could also represent a solution to support older adults in achieving their daily physical activity goals [ 51 ].…”

Effectiveness of Social Media-Based Interventions for the Promotion of Physical Activity: Scoping Review

“…The search delivered 24 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) [ 8 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ], 15 pilot studies [ 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ], 3 observational studies [ 55 , 56 , 57 ], and 1 quasi-experimental study that compared two groups but did not randomize its participants [ 58 ], and 3 systematic reviews [ 13 , 59 , 60 ]. The seven remaining publications presented results of secondary data analyses based on the included RCTs [ 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , ...…”