An Internet-Based Physical Activity Intervention to Improve Quality of Life of Inactive Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

BackgroundIncreasing physical activity is a viable strategy for improving both the health and quality of life of older adults.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess if an Internet-based intervention aimed to increase physical activity was effective in improving quality of life of inactive older adults. In addition, we analyzed the effect of the intervention on quality of life among those participants who successfully reached their individually targeted increase in daily physical activity as indicated by the intervention program, as well as the dose-response effect of increasing physical activity on quality of life.MethodsThe intervention was tested in a randomized controlled trial and was comprised of an Internet program—DirectLife (Philips)—aimed at increasing physical activity using monitoring and feedback by accelerometry and feedback by digital coaching (n=119). The control group received no intervention (n=116). Participants were inactive 60-70-year-olds and were recruited from the general population. Quality of life and physical activity were measured at baseline and after 3 months using the Research ANd Development 36-item health survey (RAND-36) and wrist-worn triaxial accelerometer, respectively.ResultsAfter 3 months, a significant improvement in quality of life was seen in the intervention group compared to the control group for RAND-36 subscales on emotional and mental health (2.52 vs -0.72, respectively; P=.03) and health change (8.99 vs 2.03, respectively; P=.01). A total of 50 of the 119 participants (42.0%) in the intervention group successfully reached their physical activity target and showed a significant improvement in quality of life compared to the control group for subscales on emotional and mental health (4.31 vs -0.72, respectively; P=.009) and health change (11.06 vs 2.03, respectively; P=.004). The dose-response analysis showed that there was a significant association between increase in minutes spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and increase in quality of life.ConclusionsOur study shows that an Internet-based physical activity program was effective in improving quality of life in 60-70-year-olds after 3 months, particularly in participants that reached their individually targeted increase in daily physical activity.Trial RegistrationNederlands Trial Register: NTR 3045; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=3045 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6fobg2sjJ)

Physical Activity and Performance Impact Long-term Quality of Life in Older Adults at Risk for Major Mobility Disability

“…9 Maintaining this gap results in the accumulated health benefit in terms of QALYs over time. 10 Although some studies have found that PA can increase QOL among sedentary older adults, 23,24 these studies typically use shorter assessment follow-up periods, and use QOL measures that have multiple subscales (e.g., Short Form-36) that could increase chances of finding improvement because of multiple comparisons. 25 LIFE assessed QOL every 6 months for up 30 months, and used the single total summary QWB-SA score.…”

Behavior Change with Fitness Technology in Sedentary Adults: A Review of the Evidence for Increasing Physical Activity

“…Feedback and rewards are other behavior change techniques closely tied to goal setting that can be effective for increasing activity (28, 34, 42–44). Feedback can be as basic as providing access to step counts, or more tailored messages designed to motivate activity.…”

“…This entails receiving directions or instructions from a peer or a professional. Coaching is often used in interventions and fitness technology to motivate increases in physical activity (44, 55–57). One intervention utilized professional coaching via weekly information sessions that encouraged healthy behaviors and a weekly 30-min group walking session (58).…”

e-Health Interventions for Healthy Aging: A Systematic Review

“…Among European studies, three were conducted in the Netherlands (47,48,50), two in the UK (46,52), and one in three countries (Greece, Spain and Sweden) (41). Furthermore, three studies presented different parts of their results in distinct publications: (i) Wijsman et al (50,54,55); (ii) van het Reve et al (49,56,57); and (iii) Peels et al (47,(58)(59)(60)(61)(62). When appraising the quality of the retained studies, we first noted that great variation existed with regard to sample size with a minimum of 14 and a maximum of 1729 participants.…”