Intervention to Increase Physical Activity in Older Adults Using Citizen-science and Modern Technology

A Community-based Intervention to Increase Physical Activity Levels in Older Adults Using Citizen-science and Modern Technology

To develop and implement a physical activity promotion intervention for older adults with or without chronic disease living in an urban environment.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Physical Activity; Elderly; Sedentary
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Physical activity intervention

Detailed Description

The World Health organization recommends that all adults should aim for 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on at least five days of the week. The importance of physical activity for promoting heath is complicated when considering inactive older adults and chronic conditions. A problematic cycle emerges where physical inactivity increases the likelihood for developing chronic conditions, and, in turn, many chronic conditions are associated with symptoms that make physical activity more difficult.

The investigators aim to develop and implement a physical activity promotion intervention for older adults with or without chronic disease living in an urban environment that considers individual, interpersonal and environmental factors and makes use of a citizen-science approach and modern PA-monitoring devices.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 29
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Switzerland
  • Zurich, Switzerland, 8001
    • University of Zurich

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 60 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 60 years or older
• Living within or <5km from Wetzikon (Zurich area)
• Understand and speak German
• Number of repetitions in the 1-min sit-to-stand test below the 75th percentile compared to the Swiss population (age and sex-specific reference values)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Symptomatic / unstable cardiovascular disease
• Cardiac surgery within one year

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: OTHER
• Allocation: NA
• Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

EXPERIMENTAL: Physical activity intervention; Participants undergo the community-based physical activity promotion (see Intervention)

Behavioral: Physical activity intervention; The intervention is comprised of 5 steps: Goal setting: Over a step-counter (smartphone app) participants learn about their daily average step count. They are coached to set individual goals; Fitness assessment: To recommend suitable frequency and intensity of walking program using mapped trails; Structured walking groups: Promoted and communicated via app. Participants can additionally organize walking groups of their own.; Feedback: Participants will see individual and group data over the step-counter app, and they can communicate with others via a communication app. They will be incentivized to reach goals through a gamification approach.; Invite friends: After 12 weeks, participants are encouraged to invite people who fulfil the inclusion criteria to join the project

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Physical activity as the average daily number of steps	Average daily number of steps measured by accelerometry (Actigraph wGT3x) during 1 week	Change from baseline to 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Physical activity intensity	Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (min/day) measured by accelerometry (Actigraph wGT3x) during 1 week	Change from baseline to 6 months
Exercise capacity (1-minute sit-to-stand test)	Number of repetitions performed in the 1-minute sit-to-stand test	Change from baseline to 6 months
Health-related quality of life	Assessed by the EQ-5D	Change from baseline to 6 months
Symptoms of anxiety and depression	Assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale	Change from baseline to 6 months
Health status	Assessed by the Feeling Thermometer	Change from baseline to 6 months
Perceived social support	Assessed by the short version of the Social Support Questionnaire	Change from baseline to 6 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Exploratory outcome: Course of daily number of steps	Exploration of course of number of steps measured by smartphone application	Daily number of steps during the intervention period (6 months)
Exploratory outcome: Social connections	Exploration of the use of the communication and calendar apps	Through study completion, an average of 6 months
Exploratory outcome: Participant satisfaction (questionnaire, quantitative)	Assessed by self-administered questionnaire	Assessed at 6 months (follow-up)
Exploratory outcome: Participant satisfaction (interview, qualitative)	Assessed by semi-structured interview	Assessed at 6 months (follow-up)
Safety outcome: Adverse events	Adverse events are assessed, collected and reported according to guidelines	Through study completion, an average of 6 months
Physiological response to walking	Physiological response during walking exercise using a metabolic cart in a subgroup of participants	At 1 day (during the intervention period)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Zurich
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Milo Puhan, Prof. Dr., EBPI, University of Zurich

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): May 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): June 1, 2017
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): June 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 12, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 15, 2016
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): April 20, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): August 22, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 17, 2017
• Last Verified: August 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: CAPACITY

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED