Home-based walking intervention for middle-aged migrant women using 360-degree virtual videos and a wearable activity tracker: A mixed-methods pilot study

Abstract

Purpose: To sustain behavior change, an intervention strategy that considers the contribution of affect to daily physical activity behavior regulation is needed. Although virtual reality-based physical activity interventions have the potential to improve emotional status, interventions using virtual reality videos in a free-living environment are lacking. This pilot study assessed the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a home-based intervention using 360-degree virtual videos and wearable activity trackers to improve mood and physical activity. Methods: A one-group pilot study of 12 middle-aged migrant women asked participants to watch virtual reality videos and perform moderate-intensity walking 5 days per week for 4 weeks, then complete surveys and focus group interviews. The intervention’s feasibility and preliminary efficacy were assessed by examining recruitment, retention, adherence, acceptability, mood, physical activity, and exercise self-efficacy. Results: A word-of-mouth approach was effective for recruiting participants. Although the weekly intervention adherence rate ranged from 53.5% to 83.5%, retention (92.3%) and acceptability (91.7%) were high. Participants were satisfied with the “visual status indicators,” “sense of accomplishment and confidence,” “emotional engagement and sense of presence,” “joy from exercise,” “external motivation through supervision,” “easy to control virtual reality device,” and “extra benefits” of the intervention. Participants had significant decreases in negative affect (p=.016). Positive affect, physical activity, and exercise self-efficacy showed trends toward improvement. Conclusion: This home-based intervention employing virtual reality videos and Fitbit activity trackers is feasible and shows preliminary efficacy in improving mood. Further research is warranted to evaluate its effectiveness in a more rigorous randomized controlled trial.