At a glance
ClinicalIndex Comparison RecordStandardized by ClinicalIndex from the ClinicalTrials.gov record · verify against the source.
A Smartphone Application to Improve Physical Activity in Underactive Older Adults
In Brief
A clinical study evaluating Physical Activity (PA) Tracker App, On Your Feet, and 2 other interventions for Sedentary Lifestyle. Completed, enrolled 111 participants across 2 sites.
Detailed Summary
The purpose of this study is to develop, test, and optimize a physical activity (PA)-tracking smartphone app and specialty features, which are designed to facilitate older adults' PA by targeting common barriers in this population. For example, one feature sends messages throughout the day about the good things about growing older to combat negative views about aging which has been linked to decreased PA. Participants will include older adult smartphone users who are between the ages of 65 and 84 and are not very physically active. In phase one of the study, three groups of five older adults will be formed to test the PA-tracking app and one of three specialty features for a two-week period, followed by a focus group to learn about the older adults' experiences. In phase two, approximately 100 participants will be randomly assigned to one of eight groups that include various combinations of specialty features with the PA tracker, for the purpose of pilot testing the app for a four-month period. Testing will occur at the beginning and the end of the four-month intervention period, and will measure PA levels, sedentary activity time, self-reported PA, and functional mobility.
Study Details
Timeline
Interventions
This PA tracker app auto-monitors PA and provides a text-based summary of goal progress, thereby targeting self-regulation and outcome expectation.
On Your Feet is a specialty app feature designed to be paired with a PA tracker app and reduce sedentary activity-a health risk factor largely independent of insufficient PA. This feature utilizes self-regulatory and behavior change techniques including goal-setting, progress feedback, and prompting. Accumulated sedentary activity time is displayed alongside self-selected goals; reminders to stand are sent at a user-specified frequency; and general tips and previously compiled, older adult-identified strategies to reduce sedentary activity are texted. Additionally, messages about the benefits of reducing sedentary activity and overcoming barriers are sent.
Coach Me is a specialty app feature designed to be paired with a PA tracker app and includes daily messages that assist older adults in discovering practical ways to integrate PA into their daily routines and overcoming PA barriers. Blending PA with productive activity facilitates PA engagement in older adults. In Coach Me, suggestions on how to intensify daily activities are tailored based on user selections from an activity inventory. This app feature helps older adults become more active in a minimally intrusive way, while allowing for engagement in productive and meaningful activities. Coach Me asks users to select obstacles to PA encountered in the previous week. Based on those selections, the app sends strategies on how to overcome those barriers, thereby targeting self-efficacy.
Proof Positive is a specialty app feature designed to be paired with a PA tracker app and capitalizes on the beneficial effects that exposure to positive aging messages and stereotypes has on health and PA. When activated, users (a) receive texts describing how old age does not equate to physical inability, (b) obtain information about the benefits of growing older, and (c) are presented with a weekly positive aging stereotype task modeled after a computerized series. This last function exposes users to blocks of "positive priming words." Primers are quickly flashed to allow perception without awareness while users focus on a simple icon that represents PA. Icons are intended to provide an additional PA cue, maintain user interest, and increase the external validity.