JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Individuals with intellectual disabilities (IDs) have lower levels of physical activity and greater barriers for participation in fitness activities, compared with members of the general population. As increased physical activity has positive effects on cardiovascular and psychosocial health, it is exceedingly important to identify effective interventions for use in everyday settings. E-health methods such as motion sensor games (exergames) and smartphone reminders for physical activity have been explored and found to be promising in individuals with IDs.

Objective:

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of an individually tailored PA program with motivational mobile e-health support on daily levels of PA in youth and adults with IDs (PA-IDe).

Methods:

The PA-IDe trial uses a prospective randomized controlled design. A total of 60 participants (30 intervention participants and 30 controls), aged 16 to 60 years, with a sedentary lifestyle or low physical activity level will be included in the study. The intervention involves the delivery of tailored e-health support, using smartphones or tablets to create structure and to increase the predictability of physical activities. It will focus on the communicative abilities of individual participants, using rewards and providing feedback, in order to motivate individuals to increase participation in physical activity. Participants will be allocated to either the intervention or control group and will receive either an e-health intervention or standard care (control). Each group will consist of a total of 30 participants. All participants will be assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Participants in the intervention group, their close relatives, and care staff will be invited to participate in a preintervention goal-setting meeting on physical activity during the intervention period. During the meeting, goal attainment scaling will be used to select the participants’ physical activity goals for the intervention.

Results:

The primary outcome of the study will be level of physical activity measured as steps per day with a commercial wrist-worn accelerometer. Secondary outcome measures will include minutes of moderate physical activity per day, body mass index, blood pressure, physical performance, social support for physical activity, self-efficacy in a PA setting, behavior problems, and goal attainment.

Conclusions:

We expect the new intervention to perform better than standard care in terms of improved physical activity, improved self-efficacy and social support for activities. Technology offers new opportunities to promote healthy behaviors. The results of the study will determine the effectiveness and sustainability of a tailored e-health support intervention to increase physical activity in youth and adults with IDs. Clinical Trial: The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov with the identifier number HNF1353-17.