Enhancing Adherence by Building Online Communities

Phase 1

Completed

• Conditions: Coronary Artery Disease; Obesity; Type 2 Diabetes
• Interventions: Behavioral: Stepping Up to Health

• Registration Number: NCT00729040
• Lead Sponsor: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether online peer support will increase adherence to an internet-based pedometer walking program.

Detailed Description

Stepping Up to Health with eCommunities is a study that takes what we already know about motivating sedentary, chronically ill people to walk, and begins to explore what it takes to keep people motivated to exercise over time: the ability to self-monitor behavior with accurate ecological momentary assessments.

We have theorized that peer support, monitoring and competition are ways in which people can stay motivated to meet their walking goals; thus, we have built into this intervention online forums for participants to communicate with each other and garner support, as well as a pilot one-to-many competitive game based on the percent of an individual's goal met.

Our research question is whether online community participation can increase adherence to an Internet-mediated walking program, which consists of an uploading pedometer, and going to a website to receive graphical and textual feedback as to whether participants are meeting gradually increasing walking goals. Three hundred participants will spend four months in this randomized, controlled trial to compare the intervention alone to the intervention plus online community support.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2008-01
• Study First Submitted: 2008-08-01
• Study First Submitted QC: 2008-08-05
• Study First Posted: 2008-08-06
• Primary Completion: 2008-10
• Status Verified: 2009-01
• Study Completion: 2009-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2009-01-27
• Last Update Posted: 2009-01-29

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 324

Inclusion Criteria

• Must have one or more of the following: Coronary artery disease (CAD); BMI 25 or higher; Type 2 diabetes
• Must be sedentary, defined by less than 150 minutes of self-reported activity per week
• Must be 18 or older
• Must have access to a computer with an Internet connection, a USB port, and Windows 2000 (latest service pack), XP or Vista
• Must be a regular email user (checking weekly)
• Must be able to communicate in English

Exclusion Criteria

• Pregnant
• Cannot walk a block (self-report)
• Not competent to sign consent
• Unable to obtain medical clearance from a treating physician (primary care, cardiologist, endocrinologist)
• Type 1 diabetes

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
1	Stepping Up to Health	Stepping Up to Health only
2	Stepping Up to Health	Stepping up to Health PLUS online message boards to talk with other participants

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Total steps	last 30 days of intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
dropout rate	Four months
upload frequency	four months
content of posts (qualitative)	four months
days and hours pedometer worn	four months
login frequency	four months