AI-Based Personalized Exercise Prescription Through Mobile Health on Physical Activity and Health Outcomes in Older Adults: A Feasibility Study

August 18, 2026 updated by: The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Artificial Intelligence-based Personalized Exercise Prescription Through Mobile Health on Physical Activity and Health Outcomes in Older Adults: A Feasibility Study

The purpose of this research is to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, and preliminary efficacy of a wearable and artificial intelligence-driven mobile application-based exercise prescription grounded in self-determination theory (SDT) and behavioral change techniques (BCTs) among older adults. As no data exists on the feasibility of AI-driven exercise programs grounded in SDT and multiple BCTs specifically for older adults, this will be a pioneering study to explore the feasibility of wearable and AI-driven exercise program protocols and the rates of acceptance and appropriateness of the exercise prescription intervention among older adults. In addition, this study will test the preliminary efficacy of the intervention on physical activity (PA), mental health, and quality of life. This study follows the National Institute of Health (NIH) stage model, and it represents stage 1b of the NIH stage model, which emphasizes the feasibility and actionable processes for delivering a new health intervention. Specifically, this study will: 1.Evaluate the research protocol feasibility of a wearable and AI-driven mobile application-based exercise prescription grounded in SDT and BCTs (of goal setting, self-monitoring, graded task, and demonstration) on older adults over 8 weeks 2. Evaluate the acceptability and appropriateness of a wearable, AI-driven, mobile application-based exercise prescription grounded in SDT and BCTs among older adults over 8 weeks. 3. Evaluate the preliminary impact of a wearable and AI-driven mobile application-based exercise prescription grounded in SDT and BCTs on older adult PA (steps per day and daily duration of light PA and Moderate-vigorous PA), sedentary time, sleep, mental health (depression and anxiety), and quality of life.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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

By the late 2070s, the global population aged 65 and older is projected to reach 2.2 billion, surpassing the number of children under age 18. In 2020, about 1 in 6 people in the United States (U.S) were age 65 and over, compared to less than 1 in 20 in 1920. The number of U.S. adults 65 years and over is projected to increase to 82 million by 2050, with the older group's share of the total population projected to rise to 23%. Ageing brings about an increased vulnerability to mental health challenges, and chronic conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's. Among adults ages 65 and older, more than 90% have at least one chronic condition and 88% have at least one multiple chronic condition. Chronic conditions contribute to over 75% of healthcare expenditures for individuals aged 65 and above in the U.S, amounting to over $1.5 trillion. An active lifestyle reduces the likelihood of developing chronic diseases and also enhances the overall health outcomes of the older adult population. Despite these benefits, a majority of older adults fail to meet the recommended U.S. physical activity guidelines (150 minutes of moderate intensity PA a week).

Mobile health (mHealth) technologies-such as smartphone applications (apps), wearables, and other mobile devices-have emerged as an increasingly adopted tool for promoting health among older adults. Several studies have demonstrated the potential of mHealth technologies to increase PA, reduce sedentary time, and improve health outcomes. However, findings have shown that the sustainability of mHealth-based exercise interventions remains uncertain. Recent reviews also emphasized the need for more personalized, adaptable mHealth solutions tailored to older adults' unique health conditions and physical ability to ensure better engagement and more durable behavior change. While recent studies show that personalized mHealth-based exercise programs outperform one-size-fits-all approaches, yet their impact is constrained by insufficient personalization data, low adherence, limited scalability, and inadequate integration of behavior-change techniques (BCTs).

Emerging evidence suggests that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can enhance PA. Integrating AI with mHealth tools-such as smartphone apps and wearable devices grounded in BCTs-offers a promising pathway to deliver an automated exercise program tailored to each person's PA goals, health status, and overall well-being, reaching many people at once with the potential of helping older adults adhere longer to an active lifestyle. Such an approach aligns with the growing emphasis on precision health and scalable interventions for aging populations. Despite this promise, the feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness and preliminary impact of an AI-driven, personalized exercise program delivered through mHealth and grounded in SDT and BCTs on older adults' PA and health outcomes remain unexplored.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, and preliminary efficacy of a wearable and artificial intelligence-driven mobile application-based exercise prescription grounded in self-determination theory (SDT) and behavioral change techniques (BCTs) among older

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 (Estimated)

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.
20

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

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: John Oginni, MS
  • Phone Number: 8659747971
  • Email: pael@utk.edu

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Tennessee
      • Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, 37996-2700
        • Recruiting
        • Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies (865) 974-3340 krss@utk.edu
        • Contact:

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

  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Be aged 65 years or older.
  • Own a smartphone (Android or iOS) compatible with study applications.
  • Have reliable access to the internet or Wi-Fi.
  • Demonstrate basic digital literacy sufficient to operate a smartphone (e.g., ability to open applications, navigate simple interfaces, and follow on-screen instructions), with or without initial guidance from the research staff.
  • Be able to safely engage in physical activity, as determined by the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+) or physician approval if indicated.
  • Report engaging in less than 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per week.
  • Be able to communicate in English sufficiently to complete study procedures and assessments.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Are younger than 65 years of age.
  • Do not own a compatible smartphone (Android or iOS) or do not have reliable internet/Wi-Fi access.
  • Are deemed unable to safely participate in physical activity based on the screening process (including PAR-Q+, STEADI, and research staff assessment), or do not obtain required physician clearance when indicated.
  • Currently meet or exceed 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per week.
  • Are unable to communicate in English sufficiently to understand study procedures, provide informed consent, or complete study-related assessments.
  • Have any medical, physical, or cognitive condition that, in the judgment of the research team, would make participation unsafe or prevent completion of study procedures.

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group 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.
Experimental: Single-arm
All participants will be provided the researcher-developed sFitRx fitness application and a Fitbit Flex 2 tracker. sFitRx will provide participants with an established daily and weekly exercise prescription program based on each participant's: (1) daily step goals, (2) previous week's PA, as collected by the Fitbit Flex 2; and (3) current physical conditioning and well-being, as collected by sFitRx. The sFitRx will provide participants with a video demonstration of warm up exercise and all prescribed exercise types, including aerobics, resistance, balance, and flexibility exercises. These exercises follow a graded task BCT. For instance, a participant with a low baseline PA might be prescribed a beginner programs with a base (entry) level of 1.1. However, the sFitRx will progressively modify the individual exercise program based on the % of exercise completed, daily goal and other metrics.
Other: Fitness app powered by AI and wearable device
All participants will be provided the researcher-developed sFitRx mHealth application. sFitRx will provide participants with an established daily and weekly exercise prescription program based on each participant's: (1) daily step goals, (2) previous week's PA, as collected by the Fitbit Flex 2; and (3) current physical conditioning and well-being, as collected by sFitRx. The sFitRx will provide participants with a video demonstration of warm up exercise and all prescribed exercise types, including aerobics, resistance, balance, and flexibility exercises. These exercises follow a graded task BCT. The exercise program delivered by the sFitRx app is grounded in self-determination theory, most especially in satisfying the basic psychological needs that drive intrinsic motivation.

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
Recruitment
Time Frame: Pre-intervention
Number screened/month per recruitment method
Pre-intervention
Enrollment
Time Frame: Pre-intervention
Number excluded by criterion; Number that decline participation; Reason for declining participation (open-ended); Average time from screening to enrollment (minutes/hours/days/month).
Pre-intervention
Participant Dropout Rate
Time Frame: Baseline (week 1) - Follow up (Week 10)
Number dropouts from AI-based exercise intervention; Reason for dropout (open-ended).
Baseline (week 1) - Follow up (Week 10)
Retention
Time Frame: Baseline (week 1) - Follow up (Week 10)
Number that completed the intervention program
Baseline (week 1) - Follow up (Week 10)
Adherence
Time Frame: Baseline (week 1) - Follow up (Week 10)
Percentage of the exercise program completed weekly (%)
Baseline (week 1) - Follow up (Week 10)
Intervention Feasibility, Acceptability, and Appropriateness
Time Frame: At follow up (week 10)
Intervention Feasibility (ease of delivery). will be assessed using the Weiner et al. (2017)1 validated questionnaire for the feasibility of intervention measure (FIM). This questionnaire contains 4-item questions on a 5-point Likert scale (completely disagree [1]-completely agree [5]), with a score range of 1-5. Intervention Acceptability (assessing participant satisfaction). will be obtained after the intervention (8 weeks) on a 1-5 Likert scale of 4-item questions, including "The exercise program delivered by the app meets my approval" using the Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM) by Weiner et al., 20171. Appropriateness (perceived fit for rural older adults). will be assessed using the Weiner et al., 20171 intervention appropriateness measure (IAM). The IAM is on 1-5 Likert scale of 4-item questions, including "The exercise program seems fitting", "The exercise program seems suitable". The AIM and IAM are robust, with Cronbach alphas of 0.89 and 0.87, respectively.
At follow up (week 10)

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
Fitbit Daily Step
Time Frame: Baseline (week 0) and Follow up (week 10)
Fitbit Flex 2 will be used to assess participants' daily steps
Baseline (week 0) and Follow up (week 10)
Physical Activity
Time Frame: Baseline (week 1) and Follow up (Week 10)
We will use the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly to assess PA across leisure (6-item question), household (3-item question), and occupational domains (1-item question) over the past 7 days. Higher scores means more physical activity. (Low activity: <100; Moderate: 100-250; High: >250)
Baseline (week 1) and Follow up (Week 10)
Depression
Time Frame: Baseline (week 0) and Follow up (week 10)

Depression will be measured using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), a 8-item symptom severity rating scale for depression (Kroenke et al., 2009). PHQ-8 is a validated diagnostic and severity measure of symptoms of depressive disorders.

Adults with scores of 0-4 are considered to have no or minimal symptoms of depression.

Score 5-9 are considered mild symptom Score 10-14 are considered moderate symptom Score 15-24 are considered severe symptom
Baseline (week 0) and Follow up (week 10)
Anxiety
Time Frame: Baseline (week 0) and Follow up (week 10)

Anxiety will be assessed using the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS). GAS is a 10-item rating scale on a 4-Likert Scale (Not at all [0] to All of the time [3]). Item 1 through 10 are summed to provide a total score. The higher the score, the worse the anxiety outcome.

Score 1-6 are considered minimal symptom Score 7-9 are considered mild symptom Score 10 is considered moderate Score 12-30 are considered severe symptom
Baseline (week 0) and Follow up (week 10)
Older Adult Quality of Life
Time Frame: Baseline (week 0) and Follow up (week 10)

Quality of life (QoL) will be assessed using the Older Adult Quality of Life Scale.

Each of the 13 items is scored Strongly agree=1, Agree=2, Neither=3, Disagree=4, Strongly disagree=5. The items are summed for a total OPQOL-Brief score, then positive items are reverse coded, so that higher scores represented higher QoL.

Minimum: 13 (very poor quality of life) Maximum: 65 (excellent quality of life)
Baseline (week 0) and Follow up (week 10)

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.
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

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: Zan Gao, PhD, University Of Tennessee,knoxville

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 (Estimated)

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.
October 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
December 20, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
December 31, 2026

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).
August 3, 2026

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.
August 11, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

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 17, 2026

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.
August 20, 2026

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.
August 18, 2026

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.
August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

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.
  • STUDY00000770

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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