Remote Exercise Program for Rural Men

October 30, 2026 updated by: Christine A Pellegrini, PhD, University of South Carolina

Evaluating a Remotely Delivered Physical Activity Program for Inactive Men in Rural Communities: A Feasibility Study

The purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a remote physical activity intervention designed for rural inactive men.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The proposed study is a pilot randomized controlled trial that will randomize participants to either 1) Immediate intervention, which consists of a 12-week physical activity program or 2) Delayed Intervention, which participants will be assigned to a 6-week abridged version of the program at the end of 12 weeks. Both versions of the physical activity program will provide participants a platform to report their exercise weekly, behavioral lessons, and receive personalized feedback on activity levels. The primary endpoint is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the 12-week program by evaluating recruitment and retention rates, completion of phone calls, adherence to physical activity self-monitoring, and program satisfaction at 12-weeks. Preliminary efficacy will be assessed by changes in moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), steps/day, health-related quality of life, self-efficacy, self-regulation, and supportive accountability at the end of 12-weeks.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

37

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

    • South Carolina
      • Columbia, South Carolina, United States, 29208
        • University of South Carolina

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

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Identify biological sex as male
  • Engage in less than 90 minutes of self-reported moderate intensity exercise
  • Ability to read and write in English
  • Primarily living in a rural jurisdiction defined by 1 of the 7 more widely used definitions of rurality by the United States government
  • Ability to walk independently for at least one block

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Have a medical condition that could be made worse with a change in physical activity
  • Plans to relocate from primary residence within 3 months of signing up for study
  • Not willing to wear physical activity monitor for 7 days or complete surveys
  • Less than 4 valid days of activity monitor wear time at baseline assessment

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Immediate

Receive intervention immediately after randomization

Participants will receive a 12 week remotely delivered physical activity program immediately after randomization. Participants will receive bi-weekly calls, behavioral lessons, and bi-weekly behavioral feedback via email.

Other: Delayed

Start intervention after 12 week assessment

Participants receive a 6 week remote physical activity program after completing the 12 week assessment. The program includes weekly calls, behavioral lessons, and weekly behavioral feedback via email.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Feasibility of recruitment
Time Frame: 12 weeks

Percentage of recruitment rate (screened/enrolled)

12 weeks
Retention
Time Frame: 12 weeks

Percentage of participants who complete the study

12 weeks
Adherence to coaching calls
Time Frame: 12 weeks

Percentage of coaching calls completed in Immediate condition

12 weeks
Adherence to self-monitoring
Time Frame: 12 weeks

Percentage of self-monitoring logs submitted in Immediate condition

12 weeks
Acceptability
Time Frame: 12 weeks

Program satisfaction with the 12 week remote program in Immediate condition

12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Physical activity - Moderate to vigorous minutes/week
Time Frame: baseline to 12 weeks

Moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity (minutes/week) assessed by activPAL

baseline to 12 weeks
Physical activity - Steps
Time Frame: baseline to 12 weeks

Steps/day assessed by activPAL

baseline to 12 weeks
Global Health
Time Frame: baseline to 12 weeks

Global Health assessed via PROMIS (t-score)

baseline to 12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Study Director: Christine A Pellegrini, PhD, University of South Carolina

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 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 4, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

August 4, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 31, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 31, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

November 4, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 3, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 30, 2026

Last Verified

October 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00000136

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

IPD will be shared on request to the PI

IPD Sharing Time Frame

IPD will be available on request after outcomes have been published

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

IPD will be available on request after outcomes have been published

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • ICF

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.