Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2018
Date Accepted: Jul 21, 2019
Effects of mHealth Prompts on Self-Monitoring and Exercise Behaviours Following a Diabetes Prevention Program
ABSTRACT
Background:
Numerous mobile phone applications (mHealth apps) exist that focus specifically on promoting exercise behaviour. To increase user engagement, “prompts”, such as text messages, emails, or push notifications are often used. To date, little research has been done to understand whether, and for how long, these prompts influence exercise behaviour.
Objective:
To assess (1) the impact of prompts on mHealth self-monitoring and self-reported exercise in the days following a prompt and (2) whether these effects differ based on exercise modality.
Methods:
Ninety-nine adults at risk for developing type 2 diabetes participating in a diabetes prevention program were randomly assigned to one of two exercise conditions: high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT). In the year following a brief, community-based diabetes prevention program involving counselling and supervised exercise sessions, all participants self-monitored their daily exercise behaviours on an mHealth app in which they were sent personalized prompts at varying frequencies. mHealth self-monitoring and self-reported exercise data from the app was averaged over the one, three, five and seven days preceding and following a prompt and were subsequently compared using t-tests.
Results:
App-based self-reported exercise significantly increased three, five, and seven days following a prompt in the first six months following the program. There were no significant differences in mHealth self-monitoring in the days before and after a prompt. Additionally, there were no significant differences between exercise conditions for the three or seven days following a prompt compared to the three or seven days preceding it (p’s > .05).
Conclusions:
This study provides preliminary evidence regarding the potential influence of prompts on app-based self-monitoring and exercise and the duration for which prompts may be effective as exercise behaviour change tools. Future studies should determine the optimal prompting frequency for influencing exercise behaviours. Optimizing prompt frequency can potentially reduce intervention costs and promote user engagement. Further, it can encourage consumers to self-monitor using mHealth technology while ensuring prompts are sent when necessary and effective. Clinical Trial: NCT02164474
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