Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Jul 27, 2025
Date Accepted: Jun 26, 2026
Just-in-time adaptive interventions to reduce sedentary behavior and promote physical activity in patients with chronic disease: A scoping review
ABSTRACT
Background:
In recent years, Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions (JITAIs) have emerged as a promising approach to promote sustained behavior change by leveraging mobile health (mHealth) technologies, especially in chronic disease management. However, the design, implementation, and evaluation of these interventions differ widely across studies. Although JITAIs are increasingly used and recognized, evidence for their effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability in chronic disease populations remains limited and inconsistent across settings.
Objective:
Given the heterogeneity of JITAIs in chronic disease management, we conducted this scoping review to offer a comprehensive overview of JITAIs specifically targeting the reduction of sedentary behavior and the promotion of physical activity(PA) among adults with chronic diseases.
Methods:
A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Scopus from database inception to June 2025. Two researchers independently screened the records, selected eligible studies, and performed data charting to ensure rigor and consistency.
Results:
A total of 14 studies were included in this review. Of these, six primarily targeted PA, one focused solely on sedentary behavior, and five addressed both PA and sedentary behavior. Six studies provided objective evidence supporting the positive effects of JITAIs in promoting PA among individuals with chronic diseases, while three studies demonstrated positive effects on reducing sedentary behavior. Five studies reported high levels of acceptability and satisfaction among participants receiving JITAIs. Several barriers to the implementation and effectiveness of JITAIs in this population were identified, including technological usability and literacy, burden and intrusiveness of the intervention, perceived value and acceptability, external and contextual barriers and privacy and data security concerns.
Conclusions:
This scoping review indicates that most existing studies support the potential of JITAIs in reducing sedentary behavior and promoting PA among patients with chronic diseases. However, more large-scale, high-quality RCTs are needed to strengthen evidence and generalizability. Clinical Trial: N/A
Citation
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Copyright
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