Physical Activity and Social Support Prompting Via Phone Messaging

March 8, 2017 updated by: Shinyi Wu, University of Southern California

Phone Messaging for Physical Activity and Social Support Prompting Among Low-Income Latino Patients: A Randomized Pilot Study

The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility, perceived usefulness, and potential effectiveness of a short text or voice message intervention to activate 1) physical activity behavior change among low-income, urban, Latino patients in diabetes management and 2) supportive behaviors by family members or close friends.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Despite the promise of phone-based interventions to effectively support diabetes self-management (DSM), little is known about their impact on the outcomes of highly vulnerable populations such as low-income, inner-city, racial/ethnic minorities. And while phone-based interventions have generally been successful at reaching and engaging adults with diabetes, they have failed to do the same with family members/friends (FF) whom are a promising source of ongoing support for DSM. The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility, perceived usefulness, and potential effectiveness of a short text or voice message (ST/VM) intervention to activate 1) physical activity (PA) behavior change among low-income, urban, Latino patients in diabetes management and 2) supportive behaviors by FF. The investigators conducted a 12-week pilot study in which participants were randomized into one of three study arms: control, phone messaging (PM), and phone messaging plus social support from FF (PM+FF). Participants were recruited in person from a diabetes management program at a safety-net ambulatory care clinic. All participants were given a pedometer and walking log for self-monitoring. Participants in the PM and PM+FF arms received ST/VMs as reminders to review daily step goals and to self-monitor; explaining the benefits of regular PA, importance of regular PA to daily life, and ways to overcome commonly identified barriers to PA; asking participants to report on PA performance; providing feedback based on responses. Participants in the PM+FF identified a FF to receive ST/VMs with suggested behaviors that are perceived as supportive by individuals making PA behavior changes. Participants received semi-structured assessments in person at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks. Participants were asked about the extent to which the program enhanced the participant's ability to make PA behavior changes. The primary outcome measures were daily step counts and perceived FF social support.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
42

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age greater than or equal to 18 years
  • Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes
  • No medical conditions restricting patient from beginning a walking program
  • Preferred language of English or Spanish, self-identifies as a Hispanic
  • Ability to walk without the use of assistive devices such as canes or walkers
  • Available to attend three interviews at the clinic
  • Does not plan to move away from the region or be out of the country during the next three months
  • Has a working phone where they can receive regular short text or voice messages for three months

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant or breastfeeding women

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Other: Control
Pedometers and walking logs
Behavioral: Pedometers and Walking Logs
Participants were recommended to use the pedometer and walking log to self-monitor how many steps participants walked each day. Participants were recommended to gradually increase daily steps over the course of 12 weeks until reaching 10,000 steps per day. Participants were also recommended to walk at a brisk pace for 3000 of these steps, which roughly translates to 30 minutes per day.
Experimental: Phone Messaging
Behavioral: Pedometers and Walking Logs
Participants were recommended to use the pedometer and walking log to self-monitor how many steps participants walked each day. Participants were recommended to gradually increase daily steps over the course of 12 weeks until reaching 10,000 steps per day. Participants were also recommended to walk at a brisk pace for 3000 of these steps, which roughly translates to 30 minutes per day.
Behavioral: Phone Messaging
Participants received short text or voice messages (depending on participant preference) as reminders to review daily step goals and to self-monitor; explaining the benefits of regular physical activity, importance of regular physical activity to daily life, and ways to overcome commonly identified barriers to physical activity; asking participants to report on their physical activity performance; providing feedback based on responses.
Experimental: Phone Messaging + Family/Friend Support
Behavioral: Pedometers and Walking Logs
Participants were recommended to use the pedometer and walking log to self-monitor how many steps participants walked each day. Participants were recommended to gradually increase daily steps over the course of 12 weeks until reaching 10,000 steps per day. Participants were also recommended to walk at a brisk pace for 3000 of these steps, which roughly translates to 30 minutes per day.
Behavioral: Phone Messaging
Participants received short text or voice messages (depending on participant preference) as reminders to review daily step goals and to self-monitor; explaining the benefits of regular physical activity, importance of regular physical activity to daily life, and ways to overcome commonly identified barriers to physical activity; asking participants to report on their physical activity performance; providing feedback based on responses.
Behavioral: Family/Friend Support
Participants identified a family member or close friend (FF) to receive short text or voice messages (depending on FF preference) with suggested behaviors that are perceived as supportive by individuals making physical activity behavior changes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in average daily steps assessed by pedometers
Time Frame: Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in average daily steps assessed using pedometer 7-day data storage
Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in body mass index
Time Frame: Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in Body Mass Index, which was calculated as weight (in kilograms) over height squared (in centimeters)
Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in exercise self-efficacy assessed using the Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale
Time Frame: Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in exercise self-efficacy assessed using the Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale
Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in barriers self-efficacy assessed using the Barriers Self-Efficacy Scale
Time Frame: Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in barriers self-efficacy assessed using the Barriers Self-Efficacy Scale
Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in perceived family/friend social support assessed using the Social Support and Exercise Survey
Time Frame: Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in perceived family/friend social support assessed using the Social Support and Exercise Survey
Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in perceived usefulness assessed using patient interviews
Time Frame: 6 weeks, 12 weeks
At the 6- and 12-week follow-up interviews, participants were asked a series of unstructured questions regarding the extent to which the program enhanced a participant's ability to make physical activity behavior changes. These questions inquired about participants' thoughts on setting PA goals, self-monitoring, educational and feedback ST/VMs, and the idea of using ST/VMs to communicate with patients about PA behavior change. For participants in the PM+FF arms, the questions also inquired about supportive behaviors exhibited by FF since the start of the program and participants' thoughts on the idea of using ST/VMs to communicate with FF about patients' PA behavior changes. Investigators also asked if participants would be willing to participate in a similar program in the future and if participants would be willing to recommend the program to other patients. The latter two were yes/no questions.
6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in perceived usability of pedometers assessed via patient interviews
Time Frame: Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Semi-structured patient interview questions inquiring about the degree to which participants perceived the pedometers to be easy to use
Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in perceived barriers to receipt of and engagement with ST/VMs assessed via patient interviews
Time Frame: 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Semi-structured patient interview questions inquiring about participants' perceived barriers to the receipt of and engagement with ST/VMs
6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in engagement with ST/VMs requiring a response assessed via call logs
Time Frame: 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Percentage of times that participants responded to ST/VMs requiring a response
6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in receipt of ST/VMs assessed via self-report and call logs
Time Frame: 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Percentage of short text messages delivered that were received assessed via self-report, and percentage of voice messages that were received assessed via call logs
6 weeks, 12 weeks
Change in non-compliance with wearing pedometer assessed via pedometer and walking log
Time Frame: Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Percentage of patients that did not wear the pedometer for a minimum of three consecutive days for at least 10 hours per day. This data will be obtained using the pedometer 7-day memory storage and participants' self-reported hours of use.
Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Recruitment and retention rates assessed via recruitment and follow-up logs
Time Frame: 1 day (Recruitment), 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Percentage of patients that were screened, were eligible to participate, and enrolled in the study. Percentage of patients who completed the 6-week and 12-week follow-up assessments.
1 day (Recruitment), 6 weeks, 12 weeks
Sufficiency or restrictiveness of eligibility criteria assessed via recruitment logs
Time Frame: 1 day (Recruitment)
Percentage of patients that were screened, but were ineligible to participate and the reasons why
1 day (Recruitment)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Southern California

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Shinyi Wu, Ph.D., University of Southern California

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
November 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
November 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 12, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 29, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 1, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 13, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 8, 2017

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • HS-13-00471
  • 3U54NS081764-03S1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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