One Step at a Time: An Intervention to Reduce Sedentary Behavior Among Working Adults

One Step at a Time: Testing the Efficacy of a Novel Social Cognitive Theory-Based Intervention to Reduce Sedentary Behavior Among Working Adults

The proposed study will test the preliminary efficacy of a novel 12-week social cognitive theory-based intervention that will target reducing daily sitting time and increasing exercise participation among middle-aged working adults. This is a population highly susceptible to excessive sedentary time and low levels of exercise engagement. This two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) will examine the preliminary efficacy of decreasing sedentary time in addition to increasing moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) engagement, compared to a group which only receives MVPA promotion.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Exercise; Sedentary Behavior; Adult; Middle Age
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Decrease Sedentary Time + Increase MVPA group; Behavioral: Increase MVPA group

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 88
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Urbana, Illinois, United States, 61801
      • Univeristy of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 41 years to 61 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 45-65 years of age by study start date
• Hold full-time employment (≥ 30 hours/week) at one or more jobs
• Hold a sedentary-based job (which also allows for ability to freely move about during the workday)
• Low active (engage in ≤2 days of 30+ minutes of structured moderate-vigorous intensity exercise/week)
• Physician's consent to participate in aerobic testing and/or the exercise program (if needed based on Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire responses)
• Ambulatory
• Absence of health conditions that may be made worse by exercise
• Ability to complete all testing assessments in-person
• Access to a laptop/desktop/phone with Zoom web-conferencing software
• Fluent in English

Exclusion Criteria:

• Under 45 or over 65 years of age
• Not holding full-time employment (work < 30 hours/week at one or more jobs)
• Hold a job(s) which is classified as light, medium, heavy, or very heavy work
• Hold a sedentary-based job which does not allow for free movement throughout the workday (i.e., bus driver)
• High active (engage in > 2 days or 30+ minutes of structured moderate-vigorous intensity exercise/week)
• Non-consent of physician
• Non-ambulatory (i.e., use of walkers, wheelchair, cane, etc.)
• Presence of health conditions that may be made worse by exercise.
• Unable to complete assessments in-person
• No access to laptop/desktop/phone with Zoom software

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Decrease Sedentary Time + Increase MVPA; Participants in this group will receive a 12-week, social cognitive theory-based intervention targetting reduction of daily sedentary time. This information will be delivered to them in the form of Zoom workshops, a program workbook, personalized step count goals, and a private social media page. The aim of this component will be to have participants displace their daily sedentary time with light-intensity physical activity, such as casual walking. The second component of this intervention will be increasing participants' weekly MVPA engagement. Participants will participate in 1 live, virtual aerobics-based exercise class per week and complete 2 additional sessions on their own time. Participants will build up to exercising 150 minutes/week (the federal physical activity recommendations).	Behavioral: Decrease Sedentary Time + Increase MVPA group; 12 week home-based exercise program to promote engagement of 150 min/week of moderate-vigorous intensity exercise; personalized step count goals to increase daily volume of physical activity and displacement of sedentary time
Active Comparator: Increase MVPA only; Participants in this group will only receive the MVPA-promoting component (which will be the same delivery as the intervention group). Participants in this arm will participate in 1 live, virtual aerobics-based exercise class per week (held separately from the intervention group) and will complete 2 additional exercise classes on their own time. Participants will build up to exercising 150 minutes/week (the federal physical activity recommendations).	Behavioral: Increase MVPA group; 12 week home-based exercise program to promote engagement of 150 min/week of moderate-vigorous intensity exercise

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in average daily step counts	Participants will wear a hip-based pedometer for 7 days at baseline and 12 weeks	Baseline,12 weeks
Changes in average daily sedentary time	Participants will wear a hip-based accelerometer for 7 days at baseline and 12 weeks to measure their daily time spent sedentary.	Baseline,12 weeks
Changes in average daily light-intensity physical activity	Participants will wear a hip-based accelerometer for 7 days at baseline and 12 weeks to measure their daily time spent engaged in light-intensity physical activity.	Baseline,12 weeks
Changes in average daily moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity	Participants will wear a hip-based accelerometer for 7 days at baseline and 12 weeks to measure their daily time spent engaged in moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity.	Baseline, 12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Neha P Gothe, MA, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 25, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 1, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): August 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 7, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 7, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): March 16, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 28, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 24, 2023
• Last Verified: August 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 22651

Drug and device information, study documents

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