Can a Smartphone App That Includes a Chatbot-based Coaching and Incentives Increase Physical Activity in Healthy Adults?

NCT03384550 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 001-Ally
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 274
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The investigators conduct a micro-randomized trial to test main effects and moderators of three different intervention components of Ally, a mHealth intervention to promote physical activity that is offered to customers of a large Swiss health insurance. Interventions include the use of different incentive strategies, a weekly planning intervention and daily message prompts to support self-regulation. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) as well as principles from behavioral economics were used to guide the development of interventions. Further, sensor data is collected in order to enable prediction of latent contextual variables. These data can be used to build prediction models for the user's state of receptivity, i.e. points in time where the user is able and/or willing to receive, process and utilize the support provided. The results of this study enable the evidence-based development of a just-in-time adaptive intervention for physical activity.

Conditions

Physical Activity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Daily goal achievement

  Goal achievement will be assessed daily by comparing participants daily step count to the respective individualized step goal

  seven weeks

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Steps per day

  seven weeks

• Behavioral regulation in physical activity

  seven weeks

• Engagement

  seven weeks

• Non-usage attrition

  seven weeks

Study Arms (3)

Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants in this arm receive no incentives. As all participants, participants in this arm receive self-regulation coaching on 50% of the days during the intervention period. For each participant, days during the intervention period are randomly allocated to a coaching or a no coaching condition using an allocation ratio of 1:1. As all participants, participants in this arm also receive either an action planning, a coping planning or no planning condition each Sunday during the intervention period. Participants are randomized to one out of nine sequences of planning interventions according to a uniform and strongly balanced intervention schedule

Behavioral: Self-regulation coaching; Behavioral: Planning

Financial Incentives

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in this arm receive financial incentives. As all participants, participants in this arm receive self-regulation coaching on 50% of the days during the intervention period. For each participant, days during the intervention period are randomly allocated to a coaching or a no coaching condition using an allocation ratio of 1:1. As all participants, participants in this arm also receive either an action planning, a coping planning or no planning condition each Sunday during the intervention period. Participants are randomized to one out of nine sequences of planning interventions according to a uniform and strongly balanced intervention schedule

Behavioral: Self-regulation coaching; Behavioral: Planning; Behavioral: Financial Incentives

Charity Incentives

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in this receive charity incentives. As all participants, participants in this arm receive self-regulation coaching on 50% of the days during the intervention period. For each participant, days during the intervention period are randomly allocated to a coaching or a no coaching condition using an allocation ratio of 1:1. As all participants, participants in this arm also receive either an action planning, a coping planning or no planning condition each Sunday during the intervention period. Participants are randomized to one out of nine sequences of planning interventions according to a uniform and strongly balanced intervention schedule

Behavioral: Self-regulation coaching; Behavioral: Planning; Behavioral: Charity Incentives

Interventions

Self-regulation coaching BEHAVIORAL

Short (2-5 min.) dialogue with the digital coach who provides information relevant for behavioral self-regulation, such as a goal reminder, the distance between the current step count and the goal and strategies to increase daily steps. Participants are randomized to self-regulation coaching or control (no coaching) on a daily basis.

Charity Incentives; Control; Financial Incentives

Planning BEHAVIORAL

A dialogue with the digital coach who prompts the participant to either formulate action plans (when and where the participant can go for a walk) or coping plans (strategies to respond to barriers for increasing daily steps) for the upcoming week. Participants are randomized on a weekly basis to action planning, coping planning or control (no planning).

Charity Incentives; Control; Financial Incentives

Financial Incentives BEHAVIORAL

Participants receive CHF 1 ($1) for each day they meet a personalized adaptive step goal.

Financial Incentives

Charity Incentives BEHAVIORAL

Participants donate CHF 1 ($1) to a charity of choice for each day they meet a personalized adaptive step goal.

Charity Incentives

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Possession of iPhone (5s or newer) or Android smartphone (Android 4.0 or higher)

You may not qualify if:

• not enrolled in a complementary health insurance plan
• actively using an activity tracker or comparable smartphone app
• working night shifts
• presence of medical condition(s) that prohibit increased levels of physical activity

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of St.Gallen: lead
• CSS health insurance: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Center for Digital Health Interventions

Sankt Gallen, 9000, Switzerland

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Kramer JN, Kunzler F, Mishra V, Smith SN, Kotz D, Scholz U, Fleisch E, Kowatsch T. Which Components of a Smartphone Walking App Help Users to Reach Personalized Step Goals? Results From an Optimization Trial. Ann Behav Med. 2020 Jun 12;54(7):518-528. doi: 10.1093/abm/kaaa002.

  PMID: 32182353 DERIVED

• Kramer JN, Kunzler F, Mishra V, Presset B, Kotz D, Smith S, Scholz U, Kowatsch T. Investigating Intervention Components and Exploring States of Receptivity for a Smartphone App to Promote Physical Activity: Protocol of a Microrandomized Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2019 Jan 31;8(1):e11540. doi: 10.2196/11540.

  PMID: 30702430 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Motor Activity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Tobias Kowatsch, PhD

  University of St.Gallen

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 14, 2017
• First Posted: December 27, 2017
• Study Start: October 24, 2017
• Primary Completion: December 17, 2017
• Study Completion: January 31, 2018
• Last Updated: March 27, 2018

Record last verified: 2017-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Time Frame: After completion of all analyses and publication of the main results of the study

Locations

CH (1)