Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2021
Open Peer Review Period: Dec 14, 2021 - Feb 8, 2022
Date Accepted: May 29, 2022
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Effects of A Gamified, Behavior Change Techniques-Based Mobile Application on Increasing Physical Activity and Reducing Anxiety in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Physical activity (PA) has an impact on physical and mental health in neurotypical populations, and addressing these variables may improve the prevalent burden of anxiety in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Gamified mobile applications using behavior change techniques (BCTs) present a promising way to increase PA and reduce sedentary time, thus reducing anxiety in adults with ASD.
Objective:
This study aimed to compare the efficacy of a gamified and BCTs-based mobile application, PuzzleWalk vs. a commercially available application Google Fit (Google LLC, CA) on increasing PA and reducing sedentary time as an adjunct anxiety treatment for this population.
Methods:
Twenty-four adults with ASD were assigned to either PuzzleWalk or Google Fit group for five weeks, using a covariate adaptive randomization design. Physical activity and anxiety were assessed over 7 days at three different data collection periods (i.e., baseline, intervention start, intervention end) using triaxial accelerometers and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Group differences in outcome variables were assessed by repeated measures ANCOVA adjusting for age, sex, and BMI.
Results:
Findings indicated that PuzzleWalk group spent a significantly larger amount of time for application use compared to Google Fit group (F 2, 38 = 5.07, p = 0.011, partial η2 = 0.21) while anxiety was unfavorably associated with increases in light PA and decreases in sedentary time after intervention (all p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
Additional research is needed to clarify the determinants of physical and mental health as well as their interrelationship in adults with ASD. In addition, more research is needed to identify the factors that facilitate the use and adoption of mobile health technology in these individuals. The small, albeit insignificant, changes in PA and/or anxiety may be of clinical significance to adults with ASD. Clinical Trial: N/A
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