Mobile-based Online Social Network Intervention to Increase Physical Activity (PennFit)

Efficacy of Mobile-based Online Social Network Intervention to Increase Physical Activity Among Young African American Women

Despite the racial disparities in rates of chronic diseases and behaviors linked to chronic diseases, there have been relatively few RCTs of interventions to increase physical activity in African American women. Although some studies found significant improvement on physical activity, most focused on individuals and did not take into consideration the social contexts in which the participants' behaviors occurred. Understanding how online social networks facilitate behavior change can bridge important gaps in the way technology can be used to intervene on health among underserved populations. The primary objective of this study was to test the efficacy of a mobile app (PennFit) intervention in increasing participants' daily active minutes objectively recorded by a fitness tracking device (Fitbit zip). In the control group, participants used the PennFit app to record and monitor their own physical activity progress. In the online social network intervention, participants were randomized to 4-women networks and were able to see and compare their own recorded physical activities with activities of the other three women in their network. Participants in a network had access to an online chatting tool to chat with one another. The secondary objective was to understand the intervention's mechanisms through mediation analysis on theoretical variables.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Sedentary Lifestyle
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: PennFit mobile individual intervention; Behavioral: PennFit mobile online network intervention

Detailed Description

Despite the racial disparities in rates of chronic diseases and behaviors linked to chronic diseases, there have been relatively few RCTs of interventions to increase physical activity in African American women. Although some studies found significant improvement on physical activity, most focused on individuals and did not take into consideration the social contexts in which the participants' behaviors occurred. A review of qualitative studies of physical-activity correlates in African American adults found that both men and women said group participation would increase their motivation to exercise, and women said that having a physically active partner or friend would facilitate their initiation and maintenance of a physical-activity program. For instance, focus groups with African American women suggested that having a friend or group to exercise with was motivating and should be considered to be an important component of physical activity programs.This finding is consistent with other studies identifying social support as encouraging African American women to engage in physical activity. While previous research emphasized the effects of social support on facilitating physical activity, it is also possible that a lack of social network members perceiving physical activity as a normative behavior may contribute to low rates of physical activity in African American women. Two correlational research found that social support and descriptive norms both predicted physical activity independently . Two experiments found that manipulating descriptive norms increased physical activity . The findings suggest creating physical activity as a normative behavior within African American women's social networks may be an effective way to establish, potentially sustaining physical activity in the long term.

Young African Americans are heavy users of social networking technologies. In 2013, 96% of African Americans aged 18 to 29 used a social networking site of some kind. Understanding how online social networks facilitate behavior change can bridge important gaps in the way technology can be used to intervene on health among underserved populations. The primary objective of this study was to test the efficacy of a mobile app (PennFit) intervention in increasing participants' daily active minutes objectively recorded by a fitness tracking device (Fitbit zip). In the control group, participants used the PennFit app to record and monitor their own physical activity progress. In the online social network intervention, participants were randomized to 4-women networks and were able to see and compare their own recorded physical activities with activities of the other three women in their network. Participants in a network had access to an online chatting tool to chat with one another. The secondary objective was to understand the intervention's mechanisms through mediation analysis on theoretical variables.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 91
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 35 years (ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• African American women (self-identified)
• Aged 18 to 35
• Using an Android smartphone
• Residing in Philadelphia

Exclusion Criteria:

• Already participating in another physical activity study
• Not able or willing to carry an Android smartphone
• Being pregnant

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: PREVENTION
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: TRIPLE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Individual intervention; Behavioral: PennFit mobile individual intervention. Participants were given a Fitbit (zip) to track their daily exercises. Participants used the PennFit app to track their own daily steps and the minutes for vigorous, moderate, and muscle-strengthening exercises that they completed for each day. Participants also received system-generated notifications that reminded them to wear their Fitbit in the morning and to log their activity minutes in the evening.	Behavioral: PennFit mobile individual intervention; PennFit (individual) is a mobile app intervention. Participants received a Fitbit physical activity tracking device and an introductory physical activity promotion session emphasizing the health benefits of physical activity and building skills for daily exercises. Participants used the PennFit app (individual) to record and monitor their own physical activity progress.
EXPERIMENTAL: Online network intervention; Behavioral: PennFit mobile online network intervention. Participants were given a Fitbit (zip) to track their daily exercises. Participants used the PennFit app to track their exercises. Participants also received system-generated notifications that reminded them to wear their Fitbit in the morning and to log their activity minutes in the evening. Participants were randomly assigned to 4-person online networks in the PennFit app. Participants in the online networks could see both their own information and the profiles and activity logs of the three other people assigned to their network. In addition, they could send messages to the network through an instant chatting tool.	Behavioral: PennFit mobile online network intervention; PennFit (online network) is a mobile app intervention. Participants received a Fitbit physical activity tracking device and an introductory physical activity promotion session emphasizing the health benefits of physical activity and building skills for daily exercises. Participants used the PennFit app (online network) to record and monitor their own physical activity progress. They could see both their own information and the profiles and activity logs of the three other women assigned to their network. In addition, they could send messages to the network through an instant chatting tool.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Daily active exercise minutes	Daily active exercise minutes are recorded by the Fitbit (zip) tracking device	Intervention day 1 to day 90

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Daily steps	Daily steps are recorded by the Fitbit (zip) tracking device	Intervention day 1 to day 90
Daily active calories	Daily active calories are recorded by the Fitbit (zip) tracking device	Intervention day 1 to day 90
Self-reported physical activity	The number of days on which participants reported engaging in 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, and strength-building activity, in the past 7 days.	Past 7 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: John B Jemmott, PhD, University of Pennsylvania

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Zhang J, Brackbill D, Yang S, Centola D. Efficacy and causal mechanism of an online social media intervention to increase physical activity: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Prev Med Rep. 2015 Aug 13;2:651-7. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2015.08.005. eCollection 2015.
• Jemmott JB 3rd, Jemmott LS, Ngwane Z, Zhang J, Heeren GA, Icard LD, O'Leary A, Mtose X, Teitelman A, Carty C. Theory-based behavioral intervention increases self-reported physical activity in South African men: a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Prev Med. 2014 Jul;64:114-20. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.04.012. Epub 2014 Apr 13.
• Zhang J, Jemmott Iii JB. Mobile App-Based Small-Group Physical Activity Intervention for Young African American Women: a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Prev Sci. 2019 Aug;20(6):863-872. doi: 10.1007/s11121-019-01006-4.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: December 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): May 30, 2016
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): September 30, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 4, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 8, 2016
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): April 13, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): January 12, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 10, 2018
• Last Verified: January 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 823881

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO