Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Dec 1, 2021
Date Accepted: Feb 3, 2022
Evaluation of Digital Interventions for Physical Activity Promotion: Protocol for a Scoping Review
ABSTRACT
Background:
Digital interventions (DI) could support physical activity (PA) promotion according to recent reviews. However, it remains unclear if and how DI for PA promotion are evaluated and thus if they support behavior change in real-world settings. A mapping of evidence from published reviews is required to focus on evaluation of DI for PA promotion.
Objective:
The aim of this study is to investigate evaluation strategies for any outcome in the context of DI for PA promotion using a scoping review of published reviews.
Methods:
This scoping review adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. The information sources include bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO and CINAHL) and bibliographies of the selected studies. The electronic search strategy was developed and conducted in collaboration with an experienced database specialist. The electronic search was conducted in English with no limits up to 19 March 2021 for sources with terms digital intervention AND evaluation AND physical activity in titles or abstracts. After deduplication, 300 reviews selected from 4912 search results were assessed for eligibility by two authors working independently. The inclusion criteria were: (1) population: healthy or clinical samples; (2) intervention: DI for PA promotion; (3) comparison: any or none; (4) outcome: evaluation strategies (methods, results or frameworks) for any outcome in the context of DI for PA promotion; (S) study design: any published review. According to consensus reached during discussion 40 reviews met the inclusion criteria: 36/40 from the electronic search and 4/40 from the manual search of bibliographies of the 36 reviews. All reviews reported the evaluation strategies for any outcomes in the context of DI for PA promotion in healthy or clinical samples. Data coding and quality appraisal of systematic reviews are currently performed independently by two authors.
Results:
This scoping review includes data from 40 published reviews (1 rapid review, 9 scoping reviews and 30 systematic reviews). The focus of data coding is on the evaluation strategies in the context of DI for PA promotion and the critical appraisal of the included systematic reviews. The final consensus regarding all data is expected in early 2022.
Conclusions:
Interventions for PA promotion supported by digital technologies require evaluation to ensure their efficacy in real-world settings. This scoping review is needed because it addresses novel objectives focusing on such evaluation that were not answered in the published reviews identified in our search. The evaluation strategies addressing DI for PA promotion will be mapped to synthesize the results reported in published reviews so far. Clinical Trial: not applicable
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