Interactive Technologies to Increase Exercise Behavior

April 27, 2007 updated by: The Miriam Hospital
The purpose of this study is to examine if an individually tailored Internet intervention is more efficacious than an individually tailored print-based intervention and standard Internet intervention for physical activity adoption and maintenance among sedentary adults.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

As many as 75% of Americans do not engage in regular physical activity and 25% are completely inactive. The risk of cardiovascular disease is almost doubled among people who are physically inactive, comparable to the risk associated with increased systolic blood pressure, cigarette smoking, and elevated serum cholesterol. To make an impact on physical activity prevalence at the population level, research must focus at the interface between clinical efficacy trials and large-scale dissemination studies. Studies at this interface must compare proven interventions with new innovations that have the potential to reach large numbers of sedentary Americans.

The objective of this study is to determine the differential effect of intervention delivery channel (Tailored Internet versus Tailored Print) on physical activity adoption and maintenance in previously sedentary adults. To our knowledge, no studies have examined the efficacy of a Tailored Internet-based physical activity intervention. Thus, we will conduct a randomized controlled clinical trial comparing three groups, 1) Internet-based motivationally-tailored individualized feedback (Tailored Internet); 2) print-based motivationally-tailored individualized feedback which has previously shown to be efficacious (Tailored Print); and 3) websites currently available to the public (Standard Internet comparison group). Two hundred and forty healthy, sedentary women and men ages 18-65 will be randomly assigned to one of the three groups. The Tailored Internet and Tailored Print arms will be matched on frequency and content of contact. Data will be collected at baseline, 6, and 12 months using well-established physical activity and physical performance measures, as well as a comprehensive set of psychosocial questionnaires. Our primary hypothesis is that individuals randomized to the Tailored Internet arm will exhibit significantly higher levels of physical activity participation at 6 and 12 months than individuals in the Tailored Print arm due to the enhanced capabilities of the Internet (e.g., immediacy of feedback and enhanced graphics). And, in addition, subjects randomized to the Tailored Internet or Tailored Print conditions will exhibit significantly higher levels of physical activity participation at 6 and 12 months than those in the Standard Internet comparison condition. Other questions of interest will include an examination of potential moderators and mediators of the intervention-physical activity relationship. This study will contribute important information regarding the relative efficacy of Internet and print-based interventions, each of which can be utilized for widespread public health dissemination.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

240

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

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

  • United States
    • Rhode Island
      • Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02906
        • The Miriam Hospital

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

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Sedentary, defined as exercising less than 90 minutes per week
  • Lack of access to the Internet
  • Lack of access to receiving mail

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Coronary heart disease (history of myocardial infarction or symptoms of angina)
  • Diabetes
  • Stroke
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Osteoporosis
  • Orthopedic problems which would limit treadmill testing
  • Other medical or psychological problems that could make adherence with the study protocol difficult or dangerous
  • Consumption of three or more alcoholics drinks per day
  • Current or planned pregnancy
  • Planning to move from the area within the next year
  • Current suicidal ideation or psychosis
  • Current clinical depression
  • Recent hospitalization due to a psychiatric disorder
  • Taking medication that may impair physical activity tolerance or performance (e.g., beta blockers).

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: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Minutes of physical activity per week based on 7-Day Physical Activity Recall Interview.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Minutes of physical activity per week based on objective physical activity monitor (ActiGraph);
Minutes of walking on a treadmill; and Estimated Vo2 on treadmill test.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

The Miriam Hospital

Collaborators

University of Pittsburgh
Brown University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Bess H Marcus, Ph.D., Brown Medical School & The Miriam Hospital

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

February 1, 2003

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2006

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 13, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 13, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 20, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

May 1, 2007

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 27, 2007

Last Verified

September 1, 2005

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R01HL069866 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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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