Dataset Information

A Mobile Health Team Challenge to Promote Stepping and Stair Climbing Activities: Exploratory Feasibility Study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Mobile health (mHealth) approaches are growing in popularity as a means of addressing low levels of physical activity (PA). OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to determine the validity of wearables in measuring step count and floor count per day and assess the feasibility and effects of a 6-week team challenge intervention delivered through smartphone apps. METHODS:Staff and students from a public university were recruited between 2015 and 2016. In phase 1, everyone wore a Fitbit tracker (Charge or Charge HR) and an ActiGraph for 7 days to compare daily step count estimated by the two devices under free-living conditions. They were also asked to climb 4 bouts of floors in an indoor stairwell to measure floor count which was compared against direct observation. In phase 2, participants were allocated to either a control or intervention group and received a Fitbit tracker synced to the Fitbit app. Furthermore, the intervention group participants were randomized to 4 teams and competed in 6 weekly (Monday to Friday) real-time challenges. A valid day was defined as having 1500 steps or more per day. The outcomes were as follows: (1) adherence to wearing the Fitbit (ie, number of days in which all participants in each group were classified as valid users aggregated across the entire study period), (2) mean proportion of valid participants over the study period, and (3) the effects of the intervention on step count and floor count determined using multiple linear regression models and generalized estimating equations (GEEs) for longitudinal data analysis. RESULTS:In phase 1, 32 of 40 eligible participants provided valid step count data, whereas all 40 participants provided valid floor count data. The Fitbit trackers demonstrated high correlations (step count: Spearman ?=0.89; P<.001; floor count: Spearman ?=0.98; P<.001). The trackers overestimated step count (median absolute error: 17%) but accurately estimated floor count. In phase 2, 20 participants each were allocated to an intervention or control group. Overall, 24 participants provided complete covariates and valid PA data for analyses. Multiple linear regressions revealed that the average daily steps was 15.9% higher for the intervention group (95% CI -8.9 to 47.6; P=.21) during the final two intervention weeks; the average daily floors climbed was 39.4% higher (95% CI 2.4 to 89.7; P=.04). GEE results indicated no significant interaction effects between groups and the intervention week for weekly step count, whereas a significant effect (P<.001) was observed for weekly floor count. CONCLUSIONS:The consumer wearables used in this study provided acceptable validity in estimating stepping and stair climbing activities, and the mHealth-based team challenge interventions were feasible. Compared with the control group, the participants in the intervention group climbed more stairs, so this can be introduced as an additional PA promotion target in the context of mHealth strategies. Methodologically rigorous studies are warranted to further strengthen this study's findings.

SUBMITTER: Liew SJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7055777 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A Mobile Health Team Challenge to Promote Stepping and Stair Climbing Activities: Exploratory Feasibility Study.

Liew Seaw Jia SJ Gorny Alex Wilhelm AW Tan Chuen Seng CS Müller-Riemenschneider Falk F

JMIR mHealth and uHealth 20200204 2

<h4>Background</h4>Mobile health (mHealth) approaches are growing in popularity as a means of addressing low levels of physical activity (PA).<h4>Objective</h4>This study aimed to determine the validity of wearables in measuring step count and floor count per day and assess the feasibility and effects of a 6-week team challenge intervention delivered through smartphone apps.<h4>Methods</h4>Staff and students from a public university were recruited between 2015 and 2016. In phase 1, everyone wore ...[more]

PMID: 32014845

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Project description:BackgroundLack of time for exercise is common among office workers given their busy lives. Because of occupational restrictions and difficulty in taking time off, it is necessary to suggest effective ways for workers to exercise regularly. Sustaining lifestyle habits that increase nonexercise activity in daily life can solve the issue of lack of exercise time. Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Chatbot is a messenger app based on the habit formation model that can be used as a tool to provide a health behavior intervention that emphasizes the importance of sustainability and involvement.ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess the efficacy of the Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Chatbot intervention presented via a messenger app aimed at stair-climbing habit formation for office workers.MethodsFrom February 1, 2018, to April 30, 2018, a total of 106 people participated in the trial after online recruitment. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n=57) or the control group (n=49). The intervention group received cues and intrinsic and extrinsic rewards for the entire 12 weeks. However, the control group did not receive intrinsic rewards for the first 4 weeks and only received all rewards as in the intervention group from the fifth to twelfth week. The Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI) of participants was evaluated every week, and the level of physical activity was measured at the beginning and end of the trial. SPSS Statistics version 21 (IBM Corp) was used for statistical analysis.ResultsAfter 4 weeks of intervention without providing the intrinsic rewards in the control group, the change in SRHI scores was 13.54 (SD 14.99) in the intervention group and 6.42 (SD 9.42) in the control group, indicating a significant difference between the groups (P=.04). When all rewards were given to both groups, from the fifth to twelfth week, the change in SRHI scores of the intervention and control groups was comparable at 12.08 (SD 10.87) and 15.88 (SD 13.29), respectively (P=.21). However, the level of physical activity showed a significant difference between the groups after 12 weeks of intervention (P=.045).ConclusionsThis study provides evidence that intrinsic rewards are important to enhance the sustainability and effectiveness of an intervention. The Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Chatbot program can be a cost-effective method for healthy habit formation.Trial registrationClinical Research Information Service KCT0004009; https://tinyurl.com/w4oo7md.

Project description:Neurological impairments can limit the implementation of conventional cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and cardiovascular training strategies. A promising approach to provoke cardiovascular stress while facilitating task-specific exercise in people with disabilities is feedback-controlled robot-assisted end-effector-based stair climbing (RASC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, reliability, and repeatability of augmented RASC-based CPET in able-bodied subjects, with a view towards future research and applications in neurologically impaired populations.Twenty able-bodied subjects performed a familiarisation session and 2 consecutive incremental CPETs using augmented RASC. Outcome measures focussed on standard cardiopulmonary performance parameters and on accuracy of work rate tracking (RMSEP-root mean square error). Criteria for feasibility were cardiopulmonary responsiveness and technical implementation. Relative and absolute test-retest reliability were assessed by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), standard error of the measurement (SEM), and minimal detectable change (MDC). Mean differences, limits of agreement, and coefficients of variation (CoV) were estimated to assess repeatability.All criteria for feasibility were achieved. Mean V'O2peak was 106±9% of predicted V'O2max and mean HRpeak was 99±3% of predicted HRmax. 95% of the subjects achieved at least 1 criterion for V'O2max, and the detection of the sub-maximal ventilatory thresholds was successful (ventilatory anaerobic threshold 100%, respiratory compensation point 90% of the subjects). Excellent reliability was found for peak cardiopulmonary outcome measures (ICC ? 0.890, SEM ? 0.60%, MDC ? 1.67%). Repeatability for the primary outcomes was good (CoV ? 0.12).RASC-based CPET with feedback-guided exercise intensity demonstrated comparable or higher peak cardiopulmonary performance variables relative to predicted values, achieved the criteria for V'O2max, and allowed determination of sub-maximal ventilatory thresholds. The reliability and repeatability were found to be high. There is potential for augmented RASC to be used for exercise testing and prescription in populations with neurological impairments who would benefit from repetitive task-specific training.

Project description:BackgroundRegular stair climbing has the potential to lower the risk of premature death, but current evidence is scarce. We aimed to examine whether daily stair climbing is associated with lower risk of all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality.MethodsUsing the UK Biobank cohort, we extracted information of self-reported daily flights of stairs climbed at home, categorized as none, 1 to 5, 6 to 10, 11 to 15, and ≥16 flights per day. Associations between flights of stair climbed per day and mortality were examined as hazard ratios (HRs) from Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for demographic, clinical, and behavioural covariates including time spent in other physical activities. We calculated the restricted mean survival time as an absolute measure of association. The risk of residual confounding was examined using propensity score matching and by using lung cancer as negative control outcome. Participants were followed from baseline (2006-2010) through 31 March 2020.ResultsA total of 280 423 participants (median follow-up 11.1 years, during which 9445 deaths occurred) were included. Compared with not climbing any stairs, climbing more than five flights of stairs at home per day was associated with lower risk of premature mortality. The lowest risk was found for those climbing 6-10 flights per day: 0.91; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.85, 0.98, translated to approximately 44 to 55 days of additional survival. A similar pattern was found after applying propensity score matching and for cancer mortality (6-10 flights per day HR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.80, 0.97), but not for CVD mortality (6-10 flights per day HR: 1.08; 95% CI: 0.91, 1.29). The association between stair climbing and lung cancer was similar to that of all-cause mortality.ConclusionsClimbing more than five flights of stairs at home per day was associated with a lower risk of all-cause and cancer mortality, but not CVD mortality, compared with those who did not take the stairs. The magnitude of the association was small and appeared susceptible to residual confounding. It is unlikely that at-home stair climbing is sufficient physical activity stimuli to lower the risk of premature mortality.

Dataset Information

A Mobile Health Team Challenge to Promote Stepping and Stair Climbing Activities: Exploratory Feasibility Study.

Publications

A Mobile Health Team Challenge to Promote Stepping and Stair Climbing Activities: Exploratory Feasibility Study.

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