Short- and Long-term Effects of a Mobile Phone App in Conjunction With Brief In-Person Counseling on Physical Activity Among Physically Inactive Women

Abstract

Key Points Question Does use of a mobile phone–based physical activity education application (app) in conjunction with brief in-person counseling result in an increase of accelerometer-measured physical activity for 3 months and maintaining activity for an additional 6 months? Findings In this randomized clinical trial of 210 community-dwelling physically inactive women, the intervention achieved a statistically and clinically significant increase in total steps and time spent performing moderate to vigorous physical activity compared with the control group in the first 3 months. However, the group who continued use of the app, as compared with the group who discontinued app use, experienced no statistically significant effect on maintaining the increased activity in the following 6 months. Meaning The combination of a mobile phone app and brief in-person counseling increased objectively measured physical activity over 3 months, but use of the app for an additional 6 months did not help to maintain increased activity.

Applying machine learning to predict future adherence to physical activity programs

“…This is a secondary data analysis of the mPED study which is a randomized controlled trial (RCT). The main results of the trial were published in [7]. The study protocol was approved by the University of California, San Francisco Committee on Human Research (CHR) and the mPED Data and Safety Monitoring Board.…”

“…In the 6-month (24-weeks) maintenance period, the PLUS group kept both the mPED trial app and accelerometer, while the REGULAR group kept using only the accelerometer. The overall participant retention rate was 97.6% at 9 months (36 weeks) [7]. In the mPED trial, physical activity was measured using a triaxial accelerometer (HJA-350IT, Active style Pro, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.).…”

“…For example, the NHANES 2003NHANES -2004NHANES and 2005NHANES -2006 studies include only 7 consecutive days of accelerometermeasured data in 9601 adults and 5030 children [5,6]. Fortunately, we had an opportunity to access to the physical activity trial data that were continuously collected every 60 sec every day for 9 months in 210 participants [7].…”

An mHealth app using machine learning to increase physical activity in diabetes and depression: clinical trial protocol for the DIAMANTE Study

“…Power Calculations and Sample Size: Power for growth models were calculated based on Monte Carlo simulations using the 'nlme' package in R(36) We conducted simulations, using data from our own study team testing the app (n=47) and data from pilot patients (n=8) to estimate the model parameters for calculating the necessary sample size. We used an estimated mean increase of 1250 steps based on previous work (37,38). With 5000 Monte Carlo simulation runs, number of days for each patient t ∼ Uniform(28,180), we estimate that we need n = 160 for 2-arms (the adaptive vs. uniform random) for 80% power.…”

Differences in Objectively Measured Daily Physical Activity Patterns Related to Depressive Symptoms in Community Dwelling Women - mPED Trial

“…In this cross-sectional analysis, we analyzed the sociodemographic, clinical, and self-reported questionnaires data collected at the screening/baseline study visit and accelerometer data collected during the run-in period prior to a randomization visit in the mPED trial. Detailed descriptions of the study design and outcomes have been previously published 24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31 . In short, eligibility criteria were female sex, age from 25 to 65 years, body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) of 18.5 to 43.0, physically inactive at work and/or during leisure time based on the Stanford Brief Activity Survey, intent to be physically active, access to a home telephone or mobile phone, ability to speak and read English, no medical conditions or physical problems that required special attention in an exercise program, no current participation in other lifestyle modi cation programs, and no mild cognitive impairment as determined by the Mini-Cog test.…”