Reducing Sedentary Behaviour in University Students Using Text Messages

September 28, 2015 updated by: Dr. Harry Prapavessis, Western University, Canada

Reducing Sedentary Behaviour In University Students Using A Text Message-Based Intervention

The primary purpose of the current study was to determine whether a text message intervention would increase break frequency and length of break from sitting, time spent standing, and time spent in light and moderate intensity physical activity in university students

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Sedentary behaviour (SB) has been linked to many health problems (e.g., type 2 diabetes, heart disease). Interventions aimed at office workers, overweight and obese individuals have proven successful in reducing SB; however, no studies have examined university students.Text message-based interventions have succeeded to aid in smoking cessation and increase both physical activity and healthy eating, but have not been shown to reduce SB. Eighty-two university students were randomized into intervention (SB related text messages) or control (text messages unrelated to SB) groups. Participants received daily text messages and reported various SBs (i.e., breaks from sitting, standing, light and moderate intensity physical activity) at four time points (baseline, 2, 4 and 6 weeks).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

82

Phase

  • 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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 64 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • be able to read and write English
  • own a cell phone with unlimited incoming text messages
  • be a student at Western University

Exclusion Criteria:

  • be under 18 or over 64

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention
text messages related to sedentary behaviour
Behavioral: text messages related to sedentary behaviour
texts sent twice daily encouraging reduced sedentary behaviour
No Intervention: Control
text messages unrelated to sedentary behaviour.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change in length of break from sitting in minutes
Time Frame: baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks
baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks
Change in frequency of break from sitting in minutes
Time Frame: baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks
baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks
Change in minutes spent standing
Time Frame: baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks
baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks
Change in minutes spent in light intensity physical activity
Time Frame: baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks
baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks
Change in minutes spent in moderate intensity physical activity
Time Frame: baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks
baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in self-efficacy for sedentary behaviour measured by percentage of confidence
Time Frame: baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks
purpose-built self-efficacy questionnaire used to rate how confident one feels in reducing sedentary behaviour
baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Western University, Canada

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

January 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 25, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 28, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

September 29, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 29, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 28, 2015

Last Verified

September 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ECotten

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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