Impact of Mindful Walking Intervention on Daily Step Count

Impact of Mindful Walking Intervention on Daily Step Count: A Pilot Study

Mindful walking is a meditation practice that combines physical activity and mindfulness practice. This study examined whether a mindful walking intervention increased physical activity and improved health outcomes. The investigators conducted a randomized experiment among adults with inadequate physical activity, whereby the intervention group received a four-week, one-hour-per-week mindful walking intervention and the control group received instructions to increase physical activity (N=38). Participants in both groups received a wrist-worn step count device as participation incentive. Physical activity and health outcomes were measured with an online survey and data obtained from the wearable device at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2), and one month after the intervention (T3).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Physical Inactivity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mindful Walking

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 40
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • South Carolina
    • Clemson, South Carolina, United States, 29634
      • Clemson University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults over age 18
• Able to read and understand English

Exclusion Criteria:

• Student athletes
• Medical condition that limits slow-paced walking for 20 minutes

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mindful Walking; Four weekly 60 minute sessions of mindful walking.	Behavioral: Mindful Walking; Weekly 60 minute mindful walking sessions involving observations of bodily sensations, experiences, and breath. Discussion of mindful walking experiences and encouragement to meet physical activity goals.
No Intervention: Control; Weekly email messages encouraging physical activity.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity Scale	self-report scale of physical activity, with total score ranging from 1-10; higher scores indicate increased activity	one week
Daily Step Counts	Fitbit-HR device data	one day
Screen Time	self-report measure, 4 items assessing television and non-television time in number of hours	one week

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Perceived Stress Scale	self-report measure, total score ranges from 4 to 20, higher levels indicating higher levels of stress	one month
Mental Health Inventory	self-report measure of health-related quality of life, total score ranging from 5 to 30, with higher levels indicating higher quality of life	one month
Brief Edinburgh Depression Scale	self-report measure, total score ranging from 6 to 24, with higher levels indicating higher levels of depression symptoms	7 days
Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory	self-report measure, total score ranging from 14 to 56 with higher scores indicating higher levels of mindfulness skills	7 days
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index	self-report measure, total score ranging from 7 to 28, with higher scores indicating worse sleep quality	one month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Clemson University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Lu Shi, Ph.D., Clemson University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 26, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 15, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): August 15, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 12, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 26, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): February 27, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 27, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 26, 2019
• Last Verified: February 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB2017-099

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: IPD will not be shared outside the research team

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No