Physical Activity Intervention Among College Students

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Physical Activity
• Interventions: Behavioral: Activity tracker

• Registration Number: NCT03061357
• Lead Sponsor: Texas Tech University

Brief Summary

This project was to examine the effects of incorporating modern wearable technology into the credit-based Physical Activity Instructional Program for promoting habitual levels of physical activity among college students.

Detailed Description

This project was a cluster randomized trial examining the effects of utilizing a wearable activity tracker in a credit-based Physical Activity Instructional Program on promoting habitual levels of physical activity (PA) in college students.

The project was conducted in a large public university located in the mid-south region of the US. The university offers more than one hundred 1-credit hour PAIPs per academic semester. Considering the pilot nature of the study, the target PAIPs was limited to those meeting the following inclusion criteria: 1) PAIP with a size of 30 students that generally show an approximately equal gender distribution; and 2) PAIP that delivers the principles and practice of individually tailored habitual activity plans. The investigators randomly selected 14 eligible PAIPs and assigned them into intervention (k=7) and control (k=7) groups. The outcome measures of interests were the changes in objectively and subjectively measured physical activity over an academic semester.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2015-08-06
• Primary Completion: 2016-07-31
• Study Completion: 2016-12-31
• Status Verified: 2017-02
• Study First Submitted: 2017-02-09
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-02-17
• Last Update Submitted: 2017-02-17
• Study First Posted: 2017-02-23
• Last Update Posted: 2017-02-23

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 187

Inclusion Criteria

• healthy college students who were enrolled in 1-credit physical activity instruction programs.

Exclusion Criteria

• did not wish to participate;
• have currently used their own wearable activity tracker;
• indicated any major physical, psychiatric, or cardiovascular-related problems diagnosed by a physician.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Activity tracker group	Activity tracker	Participants in intervention arm were provided with a small and lightweight activity tracker, Misfit Flash (Misfit Wearables Co., Burlingame, CA), that can be worn with a clasp or watch band. A handout detailing the step-by-step instructions for utilizing the activity tracker with Misfit App on their smartphone was provided. There was no intervention component mandated in the curriculum of intervention PAIP courses; rather, participants were continuously encouraged by the instructors to track their activity levels and use all the features in Misfit App on a daily basis as they learned health benefits of PA and as to how to develop individualized, life-long PA plan during the course of semester.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change from baseline in objectively measured physical activity to 15 weeks	baseline and 15 weeks	Physical activity was objectively measured using an ActiGraph Actitrainer (ActiGraph LLC, Pensacola, FL, USA) accelerometer.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change from baseline in subjectively measured physical activity	baseline and 15 weeks	Physical activity was subjectively measured using International Physical Activity Questionnaire.