BOOSTH: Serious Gaming in Combination With Physical Activity Promotion

October 1, 2021 updated by: Maastricht University Medical Center
Physical inactivity is considered to be one of the ten principal risk factors for death worldwide. Children need to perform one hour of daily moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity whereof at least twice a week these activities are of vigorous intensity. In 2010, the percentage of 4-11 year-old normoactive Dutch children was approximately 20%. In addition, there is a dose-response relationship between BMI by sex and physical activity levels. Previous interventions that aimed to increase childhood physical activity produced small to negligible effects. One possible explanation is that individuals were not intrinsically motivated towards PA during the intervention period. Children spend a substantial amount of their time behind a game consule. There are a number of applications that motivate increase in PA in a fun way through engaging individuals in games that mix real and computing worlds. These games became known as serious games. In this study we want to investigate if the incorporation of a serious game BOOSTH in combination with an activity tracker to stimulate physical activity behaviour in overweight/ obese children.

Study Overview

Status

Terminated

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The investigational treatment consists of regular COACH care and the BOOSTH physical activity intervention. Children in the intervention group will start with the physical activity intervention. The child will receive the BOOSTH activity tracker. The child (under supervision of their parents) needs to download the BOOSTH sync app and the BOOSTH game app. Therefore it is important that the child or their parents have a device with Bluetooth. The investigators create a login account for the child. After installing the apps, the activity tracker measures step counts which are translated into activity points. These activity points will be used to unlock levels in the BOOSTH game app. The child synchronizes their activity points, with Bluetooth connection, in the BOOSTH sync app and immediately the child could open the BOOSTH game app to play a level in the game. The child needs seven green lights (corresponding to 30 minutes of performed physical activity) to unlock a level in the game. The first four levels are for free, to gain interests of the child, but thereafter the child needs to be physically active to unlock the rest of the levels in the game. The intervention consists of a combination of supporting strategies: • BOOSTH game: it is a reward based game since the child needs to perform physical activity to unlock a level in the game. The BOOSTH game is a jump and run game. • Lights on the activity tracker: the child will be stimulated to promote physical activity by using green lights on the activity tracker. The more performed physical activity, the more green lights on the activity tracker (maximum of seven green lights). When the maximum is reached the child could use the activity points to unlock a level in the game. • Group system: a special COACH group (in the BOOSTH game app) will be created. Children can compare their scores with each other and challenge each other to gain more activity points. • Every week the child receives a reminder (by email or phone) to promote physical activity. Every week the researcher will download the BOOSTH data. Individual adjustments and encouragement could be made based on results of the data. • The medical doctor (MD) will stimulate physical activity behavior during regular COACH visits and promote the use of BOOSTH The intervention duration is 6 months. Measurements will be performed at baseline, 3-, 6- and twelve months after the start.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

52

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Limburg
      • Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands, 6229 HX
        • Maastricht University Medical Center

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

Ages Eligible for Study

8 years to 12 years (CHILD)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Boys and girls, aged between 8 and 12 years (at time of inclusion)
  • Overweight or obesity according to IOTF criteria Are enrolled in the COACH program
  • Have access to a technological device (i.e. tablet, iPad, phone) with bluetooth option (to synchronize activity points and playing the BOOSTH game)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children who are suffering from any musculoskeletal condition that would prevent the subject from performing PA.
  • Children who already participate in another PA intervention (children who are attending COACH Sports lessons will be excluded)

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: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
NO_INTERVENTION: Control group
Standard care
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Intervention group
Children in the intervention group will receive Boosth: Boosth activity tracker, Boosth syncc app and Boosth game app
Boosth activity tracker which measures steps

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
change in moderate to vigorous physical activity (min/day)
Time Frame: 1 week weartime at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
moderate to vigorous physical activity (min/day) as measured with the Actigraph accelerometer
1 week weartime at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in step count
Time Frame: up to 6 months
Daily step count via Boosth activity tracker
up to 6 months
Change in physical activity behaviour
Time Frame: up to 12 months
Subjective physical activity behaviour via Baecke questionnaire. BAECKE (for children) will be used to assess the amount of habitual PA ranging from 1 (lowest activity) to 5 (highest activity). Physical activity at school, during leisure time and organized sports will be asked.
up to 12 months
Anthropometry
Time Frame: up to 12 months
Weight (kg) and height (cm) will be combined to report BMI in kg/m^2
up to 12 months
Body composition
Time Frame: up to 12 months
Fat Mass and Fat Free Mass via Bodpod measurement
up to 12 months
Energy Expenditure
Time Frame: up to 6 months
Energy expenditure as measured with indirect calorimetrie
up to 6 months
Screentime
Time Frame: up to 12 months
Screentime as measured with questionnaire. Subjects and their parents will report the average hours per day (weekday and weekend day) of screen-time (hours/day). Screen-time are activities like watching T.V., use of computer, playing videogames and the use of social media like Facebook or Instagram. Self-reported screen time will be reported separately for weekday and weekend day assessed with the following questions: 'How many hours a day during the last 4 weeks you watched TV on a normal weekday/weekend?' and 'How many hours a day during the last 4 weeks have you played console games or used a computer for your free time activities on a normal weekday/weekend? Possible responses are: 'not at all', '0.5 hours per day', 'one hour per day', '2 hours per day', '2.5 hours per day', '3 hours per day', '3.5 hours per day', '4 hours or more per day'. Total screen time was calculated by summing minutes spent in TV watching and computer use.
up to 12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

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 (ACTUAL)

November 9, 2017

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

December 1, 2020

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

September 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 29, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 9, 2018

First Posted (ACTUAL)

February 19, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

October 8, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 1, 2021

Last Verified

September 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NL61033.000.17

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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