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Commercial app use linked with sustained physical activity in two Canadian provinces: a 12-month quasi-experimental study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Top tier commercial physical activity apps rarely undergo peer-reviewed evaluation. Even fewer are assessed beyond six months, the theoretical threshold for behaviour maintenance. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a multi-component commercial app rewarding users with digital incentives for walking was associated with an increase in physical activity over one year. METHODS:This 12-month quasi-experimental study was conducted in two Canadian provinces (n?=?39,113 participants). Following a two-week baseline period, participants earned digital incentives ($0.04 CAD/day) every day they reached a personalized daily step goal. Mixed-effects models estimated changes in weekly mean daily step count between the baseline period and the last two recorded weeks. Models were fit for several engagement groups and separately by baseline physical activity status within engagement groups. RESULTS:Nearly half of participants (43%) were categorized as physically inactive at baseline (fewer than 5000 daily steps), and 60% engaged with the app for at least six months ['Regular' (24-51?weeks of step data) or 'Committed' sub-groups (52?weeks)]. Weekly mean daily step count increased for physically inactive users regardless of engagement status (P?

SUBMITTER: Mitchell M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7043029 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Commercial app use linked with sustained physical activity in two Canadian provinces: a 12-month quasi-experimental study.

Mitchell Marc M Lau Erica E White Lauren L Faulkner Guy G

The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity 20200225 1

<h4>Background</h4>Top tier commercial physical activity apps rarely undergo peer-reviewed evaluation. Even fewer are assessed beyond six months, the theoretical threshold for behaviour maintenance. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a multi-component commercial app rewarding users with digital incentives for walking was associated with an increase in physical activity over one year.<h4>Methods</h4>This 12-month quasi-experimental study was conducted in two Canadian provinces (n = ...[more]

PMID: 32098625

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Project description:The Carrot Rewards app was developed as part of an innovative public-private partnership to reward Canadians with loyalty points, exchangeable for retail goods, travel rewards, and groceries for engaging in healthy behaviors such as walking.This study examined whether a multicomponent intervention including goal setting, graded tasks, biofeedback, and very small incentives tied to daily step goal achievement (assessed by built-in smartphone accelerometers) could increase physical activity in two Canadian provinces, British Columbia (BC) and Newfoundland and Labrador (NL).This 12-week, quasi-experimental (single group pre-post) study included 78,882 participants; 44.39% (35,014/78,882) enrolled in the Carrot Rewards "Steps" walking program during the recruitment period (June 13-July 10, 2016). During the 2-week baseline (or "run-in") period, we calculated participants' mean steps per day. Thereafter, participants earned incentives in the form of loyalty points (worth Can $0.04 ) every day they reached their personalized daily step goal (ie, baseline mean+1000 steps=first daily step goal level). Participants earned additional points (Can $0.40) for meeting their step goal 10+ nonconsecutive times in a 14-day period (called a "Step Up Challenge"). Participants could earn up to Can $5.00 during the 12-week evaluation period. Upon meeting the 10-day contingency, participants could increase their daily goal by 500 steps, aiming to gradually increase the daily step number by 3000. Only participants with ?5 valid days (days with step counts: 1000-40,000) during the baseline period were included in the analysis (n=32,229).The primary study outcome was mean steps per day (by week), analyzed using linear mixed-effects models.The mean age of 32,229 participants with valid baseline data was 33.7 (SD 11.6) years; 66.11% (21,306/32,229) were female. The mean daily step count at baseline was 6511.22. Over half of users (16,336/32,229, 50.69%) were categorized as "physically inactive," accumulating <5000 daily steps at baseline. Results from mixed-effects models revealed statistically significant increases in mean daily step counts when comparing baseline with each study week (P<.001). Compared with baseline, participants walked 115.70 more steps (95% CI 74.59 to 156.81; P<.001) at study week 12. BC and NL users classified as "high engagers" (app engagement above sample median; 15,511/32,229, 48.13%) walked 738.70 (95% CI 673.81 to 803.54; P<.001) and 346.00 (95% CI 239.26 to 452.74; P<.001) more steps, respectively. Physically inactive, high engagers (7022/32,229, 21.08%) averaged an increase of 1224.66 steps per day (95% CI 1160.69 to 1288.63; P<.001). Effect sizes were modest.Providing very small but immediate rewards for personalized daily step goal achievement as part of a multicomponent intervention increased daily step counts on a population scale, especially for physically inactive individuals and individuals who engaged more with the walking program. Positive effects in both BC and NL provide evidence of replicability.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Lack of knowledge and poor attitude are barriers to colorectal cancer screening participation. Printed material, such as pamphlets and posters, have been the main approach in health education on disease prevention in Malaysia. Current information technology advancements have led to an increasing trend of the public reading from websites and mobile apps using their mobile phones. Thus, health information dissemination should also be diverted to websites and mobile apps. Increasing knowledge and awareness could increase screening participation and prevent late detection of diseases such as colorectal cancer. OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the ColorApp mobile app in improving the knowledge and attitude on colorectal cancer among users aged 50 years and older, who are the population at risk for the disease in Kedah. METHODS:A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 100 participants in Kedah, Malaysia. Participants from five randomly selected community empowerment programs in Kota Setar district were in the intervention group; Kuala Muda district was the control group. Participants were given a self-administered validated questionnaire on knowledge and attitudes toward colorectal cancer. A mobile app, ColorApp (Colorectal Cancer Application), was developed as a new educational tool for colorectal cancer prevention. The intervention group used the app for two weeks. The same questionnaire was redistributed to both groups after two weeks. The mean percentage scores for knowledge and attitude between groups were compared using repeated measure ANCOVA. RESULTS:There was no significant difference in age, sex, highest education level, current occupation, and diabetic status between the two groups. The number of smokers was significantly higher in the intervention group compared with the control group and was controlled for during analysis. The intervention group showed a significantly higher mean knowledge score compared with the control group with regards to time (Huynh-Feldt: F1,95=19.81, P<.001). However, there was no significant difference in mean attitude scores between the intervention and control groups with regards to time (F1,95=0.36, P=.55). CONCLUSIONS:The ColorApp mobile app may be an adjunct approach in educating the public on colorectal cancer.

Project description:BackgroundLittle is known about how individuals engage over time with smartphone app interventions and whether this engagement predicts health outcomes.ObjectiveIn the context of a randomized trial comparing 2 smartphone apps for smoking cessation, this study aimed to determine distinct groups of smartphone app log-in trajectories over a 6-month period, their association with smoking cessation outcomes at 12 months, and baseline user characteristics that predict data-driven trajectory group membership.MethodsFunctional clustering of 182 consecutive days of smoothed log-in data from both arms of a large (N=2415) randomized trial of 2 smartphone apps for smoking cessation (iCanQuit and QuitGuide) was used to identify distinct trajectory groups. Logistic regression was used to determine the association of group membership with the primary outcome of 30-day point prevalence of smoking abstinence at 12 months. Finally, the baseline characteristics associated with group membership were examined using logistic and multinomial logistic regression. The analyses were conducted separately for each app.ResultsFor iCanQuit, participants were clustered into 3 groups: "1-week users" (610/1069, 57.06%), "4-week users" (303/1069, 28.34%), and "26-week users" (156/1069, 14.59%). For smoking cessation rates at the 12-month follow-up, compared with 1-week users, 4-week users had 50% higher odds of cessation (30% vs 23%; odds ratio [OR] 1.50, 95% CI 1.05-2.14; P=.03), whereas 26-week users had 397% higher odds (56% vs 23%; OR 4.97, 95% CI 3.31-7.52; P<.001). For QuitGuide, participants were clustered into 2 groups: "1-week users" (695/1064, 65.32%) and "3-week users" (369/1064, 34.68%). The difference in the odds of being abstinent at 12 months for 3-week users versus 1-week users was minimal (23% vs 21%; OR 1.16, 95% CI 0.84-1.62; P=.37). Different baseline characteristics predicted the trajectory group membership for each app.ConclusionsPatterns of 1-, 3-, and 4-week smartphone app use for smoking cessation may be common in how people engage in digital health interventions. There were significantly higher odds of quitting smoking among 4-week users and especially among 26-week users of the iCanQuit app. To improve study outcomes, strategies for detecting users who disengage early from these interventions (1-week users) and proactively offering them a more intensive intervention could be fruitful.

Dataset Information

Commercial app use linked with sustained physical activity in two Canadian provinces: a 12-month quasi-experimental study.

Publications

Commercial app use linked with sustained physical activity in two Canadian provinces: a 12-month quasi-experimental study.

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