“Active Team” a social and gamified app-based physical activity intervention: randomised controlled trial study protocol

BMC Public Health

Study Protocol

Sarah Edney¹  Tim Olds¹  Carol Maher¹  Jillian Ryan¹  Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij²  Corneel Vandelanotte³  Ronald Plotnikoff⁴ 

[1] Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition, and Activity, University of South Australia, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia;Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium;Physical Activity Research Group, School of Human Health and Social Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia;Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Advance Technology Centre, Level 3, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia;

关键词: Social network;    Gamification;    Behaviour change;    Intervention;    Social media;    Physical activity;    Mobile;    mHealth;    eHealth;    Facebook;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-017-4882-7

 received in 2017-07-13, accepted in 2017-10-26,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPhysical inactivity is a leading preventable cause of chronic disease and premature death globally, yet over half of the adult Australian population is inactive. To address this, web-based physical activity interventions, which have the potential to reach large numbers of users at low costs, have received considerable attention. To fully realise the potential of such interventions, there is a need to further increase their appeal to boost engagement and retention, and sustain intervention effects over longer periods of time. This randomised controlled trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of a gamified physical activity intervention that connects users to each other via Facebook and is delivered via a mobile app.MethodsThe study is a three-group, cluster-RCT. Four hundred and forty (440) inactive Australian adults who use Facebook at least weekly will be recruited in clusters of three to eight existing Facebook friends. Participant clusters will be randomly allocated to one of three conditions: (1) waitlist control condition, (2) basic experimental condition (pedometer plus basic app with no social and gamification features), or (3) socially-enhanced experimental condition (pedometer plus app with social and gamification features). Participants will undertake assessments at baseline, three and nine months. The primary outcome is change in total daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at three months measured objectively using GENEActive accelerometers [Activeinsights Ltd., UK]. Secondary outcomes include self-reported physical activity, depression and anxiety, wellbeing, quality of life, social-cognitive theory constructs and app usage and engagement.DiscussionThe current study will incorporate novel social and gamification elements in order to examine whether the inclusion of these components increases the efficacy of app-based physical activity interventions. The findings will be used to guide the development and increase the effectiveness of future health behaviour interventions.Trial registrationThis trial was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ACTRN12617000113358, date of registration 23 January, 2017).

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017