NCT04440553

A Mobile App to Increase Physical Activity in Students

Completed NA Last updated 24 June 2020

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Uniform random message delivery in Mobile Health in 103 participants. Completed in 20 December 2019.

Timeline

12 September 2019

Primary endpoint
10 December 2019

20 December 2019

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	University of California, Berkeley
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	single
Primary purpose	prevention
Enrollment	103
Start date	12 September 2019
Primary completion	10 December 2019
Estimated completion	20 December 2019
Sites	1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

• Uniform random message delivery
• Reinforcement learning message delivery

Conditions studied

• Mobile Health — all drugs for Mobile Health →
• Physical Activity — all drugs for Physical Activity →
• Exercise — all drugs for Exercise →
• Mood — all drugs for Mood →

Sponsor

University of California, Berkeley

Who can join

Adults 18 to 65, any sex, with Mobile Health or Physical Activity. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Background: Insufficient physical activity is one of the leading risk factors of death worldwide. Behavioral treatments delivered via smartphone apps, hold great promise for helping people engage in healthy behaviors including becoming more physically active. However, similar to 'face-to-face' treatments, effects typically do not seem to be sustained over longer periods of time.

Methods: the investigators developed a smartphone application that uses different types of motivational and feedback text-messaging to motivate individuals to increase physical activity. Here, participants are randomized to either receive messages by a uniform random distribution (n=50), or chosen by a reinforcement learning algorithm (n=50), which learns from daily participant data to personalize the frequency and type of motivation of messages.

Objectives: In the current study, the investigators examine this application in undergraduate and graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley. The investigators compare whether participants in the uniform random or adaptive group have higher increases in steps during the study. The investigators also examine the effect of the different types of messages on step counts. Further the investigators assess the influence of patient characteristics, such as socio-demographic, psychological questionnaire scores and baseline physical activity on the effect of the adaptive arm and effectiveness of the messages. Finally, the investigators assess participant qualitative feedback on the text-messaging program, through feedback provided via questionnaires, text-message and phone interviews.

Publications & conference data

2 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Daily Motivational Text Messages to Promote Physical Activity in University Students: Results From a Microrandomized Trial.
   Figueroa CA, Deliu N, Chakraborty B, Modiri A, et al · · 2022 · cited 27× · PMID 33871015 · DOI 10.1093/abm/kaab028
2. Ratings and experiences in using a mobile application to increase physical activity among university students: implications for future design.
   Figueroa CA, Gomez-Pathak L, Khan I, Williams JJ, et al · · 2023 · cited 5× · PMID 36624825 · DOI 10.1007/s10209-022-00962-z