The StepSmart Project: A Pedometer Based Phased Intervention to Encourage Physical Activity in Schools

Phase 1

Completed

• Conditions: Physical Activity; Competitive Behavior; Health Behavior; Incentives
• Interventions: Behavioral: The StepSmart Challenge

• Registration Number: NCT02455986
• Lead Sponsor: Queen's University, Belfast

Brief Summary

A school based pedometer competition among Year 9 pupils (12 - 14 years old) to promote physical activity (PA).

Detailed Description

The intervention is separated into three main phases.

Phase One: A 10-week school competition using pedometers and a range of non-financial incentives e.g. t-shirts, pens, badges etc. (April - June 2015).

Phase Two: End of school competition but participants will still keep the pedometers. We will set them various challenges over the summer to keep active (July - Oct 2015).

Phase Three: Removal of all extrinsically motivation factors. Focus on PA maintenance.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2015-04
• Study First Submitted: 2015-05-21
• Study First Submitted QC: 2015-05-25
• Study First Posted: 2015-05-28
• Primary Completion: 2016-10
• Study Completion: 2016-10
• Status Verified: 2017-08
• Last Update Submitted: 2017-08-14
• Last Update Posted: 2017-08-17

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 240

Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Intervention	The StepSmart Challenge	The intervention group includes 150 participants aged 12-14 across three schools. Each participant has been given a Fitbit Zip pedometer to wear for a six month period and enrolled on the StepSmart challenge. Participants within the intervention group will take part in two competitions during this period. 1. School and team based competition. 27/05/15 - 22/06/15 (8 weeks) 2. Individually focused competition. 22/06/15 - 26/10/15 (18 weeks) Prizes of low monetary value will be given to participants based on competition performance

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change from baseline in physical activity as assessed by Actigraph accelerometer	Baseline, 6 months and 1 year	Actigraph accelerometer counts per minute and minutes of moderate and vigorous physical activity

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in future orientation and impulsivity measured using 8-item time preference scale	Baseline, 6 months and 1 year	A previously validated 8-item time preference scale is included. Responses are summed to obtain a a future orientation and impulsivity score. High scores reflect future time orientation and greater impulsivity in decision making.
Change in mental wellbeing measured by the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale	Baseline, 6 months and 1 year	Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale is a validated, self-report instrument assessing mental wellbeing. Possible scores range from range from 14-70, with higher scores indicating higher mental well-being
Change in social support for physical activity measured by the social support for physical activity scale	Baseline, 6 months and 1 year	Social support for physical activity scale is a validated 5-item scale. Social support is measured as tghe sum of responses to four sub-scales including parental social support (3 items), parental encouragement (2 items), peer support (3 items), and teacher support (3 items). Each question is answered with a 4-point response format ranging from 1 (hardly ever or never) to 4 (every day).