Can self-monitoring mobile health apps reduce sedentary behavior? A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objective To examine whether the self‐monitoring interventions of a mobile health app reduce sedentary behavior in the short and long terms. Method We designed a double‐blind randomized control trial. Participants were selected from among the staff of a medical institution and registrants of an online research firm. Forty‐nine participants were randomly assigned to either a control group (n = 25) or an intervention group (n = 24). The control group was given only the latest information about sedentary behavior, and the intervention was provided real‐time feedback for self‐monitoring in addition to the information. These interventions provided for 5 weeks (to measure the short‐term effect) and 13 weeks (to measure the long‐term effect) via the smartphone app. Measurements were as follows: subjective total sedentary time (SST), objective total sedentary time (OST), mean sedentary bout duration (MSB), and the number of sedentary breaks (SB). Only SST was measured by self‐report based on the standardized International Physical Activity Questionnaire and others were measured with the smartphone. Results No significant results were observed in the short term. In the long term, while no significant results were also observed in objective sedentary behavior (OST, MSB, SB), the significant differences were observed in subjective sedentary behavior (SST, β int − β ctrl between baseline and 9/13 weeks; 1.73 and 1.50 h/d, respectively). Conclusions Real‐time feedback for self‐monitoring with smartphone did not significantly affect objective sedentary behavior. However, providing only information about sedentary behavior to users with smartphones may make misperception on the amount of their subjective sedentary behavior.

mHealth interventions targeting movement behaviors in Asia: A scoping review

“…Fifty‐six interventions used a single mHealth component: delivered wholly via an app (23/80, 28.7% 68–70,79,82,83,85,88,89,91,92,95–97,103,106–109,113,114,124,126,128–130 ), pedometer (not app based; 19/80, 23.8% 55,60–68,87,94,112,115,116,119,120,123,132 ), or text messages (14/80, 17.5% 51,72–75,84,90,93,96,110,111,117,118,125 ). The remaining 24 interventions used a combination of an app and text messages (7/80, 8.8% 59,99,101,104,122,127,131 ), wearable plus associated app (e.g., Fitbit app; 7/80, 8.8% 57,77,80,81,98,100,121 ), pedometer (not app based) along with text messages (4/80, 5.0% 54,71,86,133 ), or wearable and associated app and text messages together (3/80, 3.8% 76,78,105 ). Two studies (2.5%) used an app plus a pedometer (not an app‐based pedometer) 58,103 and one used a wearable plus associated and additional app (1/80, 1.3% 102 ).…”

“…There were 14 studies that did not report a specific physical activity‐related outcome measure (14/74, 18.9% 71,76,84,85,91,92,101,104,106–108,114,126,128 ). Of the six interventions that targeted sedentary behavior, two used a device (2/6, 33.3% 98,100 ), one used a questionnaire (1/6, 16.7% 109 ), one used both (1/6, 16.7% 59 ), and two did not report a specific outcome related to sedentary behavior (2/6, 33.3% 80,127 ). Of the seven interventions targeting sleep, four used a self‐reported measure (4/76 57.1% 77,109,111,114 ), two used a device (2/7, 28.6% 69,82 ), and one did not report a sleep‐related outcome measure (1/7, 14.3% 128 ).…”

“…Thirteen studies did not report the length of the intervention. 66,82,83,85,88,91,92,101,104,106,107,128,131 Over half (43/80, 53.8% 51,55,[57][58][59][60][62][63][64][65][66]68,71,72,74,80,[83][84][85]87,88,91,92,94,99,106,108,111,112,[117][118][119][122][123][124][125][126]129,132,133 ...…”

“…There were 14 studies that did not report a specific physical activity-related outcome measure (14/74, 18.9% 71,76,84,85,91,92,101,104,[106][107][108]114,126,128 ). Of the six interventions that targeted sedentary behavior, two used a device (2/6, 33.3% 98,100 ), one used a questionnaire (1/6, 16.7% 109 ), one used both (1/6, 16.7% 59 ), and two did not report a specific outcome related to sedentary behavior (2/6, 33.3% 80,127…”

Sedentary work and breast cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A recent Japanese research demonstrated that without real-time feedback of individuals' current activity levels, subjective sedentary time might be underestimated compared with objective measurement of sedentary time. 53 Hence, it is expected that these possibilities would bias the results toward the null. Even though there was moderate heterogeneity throughout the study, our subgroup analysis of study characteristics identified some causes of this heterogeneity, such as publication year and study region.…”