Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Mar 18, 2021
Date Accepted: Dec 22, 2021
The relation of attitude towards technology and mastery experience after an app-guided physical exercise intervention: a randomized crossover trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Physical exercise has been found to assert a positive impact on many muscular conditions. Exercise under face-to-face supervision is the gold standard, but access to it is limited for instance for economic reasons. App-guided therapy is an intervention that is more affordable and easier accessible. However, attitude towards technology is a key predictor for media adoption and is therefore expected to shape user-experience during app-guided therapy. This might be of particular importance for mastery experience, which are crucial for promoting exercise-related self-efficacy and perceived usefulness of the interaction. Both should empower patients to continuously exercise.
Objective:
This study sought to test whether attitudes towards technology predict mastery experience and perceived usefulness of the interaction after an app-versus a physiotherapist-guided treatment. We expect that attitudes towards technology positively predicts both outcomes in case of the app-guided but not in case of the physiotherapist-guided treatment.
Methods:
Patients with clinically diagnosed hip osteoarthritis participated in two training sessions with the same exercise intervention, once guided by an app on a tablet computer and once guided by a physiotherapist. The order of the sessions was randomized. Attitude towards technology was assessed before the first session, mastery experience and the global perceived usefulness of interaction after each session.
Results:
In line with our hypotheses, attitude towards technology predicted mastery experience (b = .16, SE = .07, P = .02) and usefulness of interaction (b = .17, SE = .06, P = .01) after the app-based training but not after the training delivered by a physiotherapist. Mastery experience was lower for the app-based training but reached a very similar level as the physiotherapist-guided training for those holding a very positive attitude towards technology.
Conclusions:
The attitude towards technology predicts the extent of mastery experience after app-guided exercise therapy. As mastery experience are highly important for self-efficacy and future exercise behavior, attitudes towards technology should be considered when delivering app-guided exercise treatments. Clinical Trial: German Clinical Trial Register number: DRKS00015759
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