A Combined HAPA and mHealth Intervention to Reduce Sedentary Behaviour in University Students

NCT03760393 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: HAPA Planning & SB in Students
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Societal changes have resulted in reduced demands to be active and increased daily time spent sitting. Sedentary behavior (SB) has been linked to many health problems such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. University students are a high-risk population for excessive SB. Increasing the length and frequency of breaks from sitting and increasing the time spent standing and engaged in light physical activity are ways to decrease SB. The purpose of this study is to determine whether combining a Health Action Process Approach-based (theory-driven), specifically action and coping planning intervention, with a tailored text messaging intervention can reduce occupational (student) sitting time among university students. Participants in the intervention group will receive one behavioural counselling session, followed by daily, tailored text messages over a 6-week period, with a focus on encouraging them to reduce their sitting time as a student by increasing their frequency and duration of breaks from sitting, as well as time spent standing and engaged in light-intensity physical activity. It is expected that university students who receive the planning intervention and tailored text messages will report greater increases in non-sedentary behaviours (e.g., break frequency, break duration, standing, light physical activity) than those who do not receive the intervention.

Conditions

Sedentary Lifestyle; Health Behaviour Change

Keywords

Sedentary Behaviour; Health Behaviour Change; Health Action Process Approach; mHealth; Intervention; Non-Sedentary Behaviours; Break Frequency; Break Duration; Action Planning; Coping Planning; Work Performance; Health Outcomes

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Changes in Frequency of Breaks from Sitting as a Student

  Modified version of the SIT-Q 7d (Wijndaele et al., 2014; Sui \& Prapavessis, 2016); 1-item; 12-point scale (Less than every 30 min, Every 30-45 min, Every 45 min-1 hour, Every 1-1.5 hours, Every 1.5-2 hours, Every 2-3 hours, Every 3-4 hours, Every 4-5 hours, Over every 5 hours, No interruption). Lower values represent a better outcome.

  Baseline, Weeks 2, 4, 6, and at the 2-week follow-up (Week 8)

• Changes in Duration of Breaks from Sitting as a Student

  Modified version of the SIT-Q 7d (Wijndaele et al., 2014; Sui \& Prapavessis, 2016); 1-item; 10-point scale (Less than 30 sec, 30 sec-1 min, 1-2 min, 2-3 min, 3-4 min, 4-5 min, 5-10 min, 10-15 min, 15-30 min, Over 30 min). Higher values represent a better outcome.

  Baseline, Weeks 2, 4, 6, and at the 2-week follow-up (Week 8)

• Changes in Time Spent Standing as a Student

  Five-item modified Occupational Sitting and Physical Activity Questionnaire (OSPAQ; Chau, Van Der Ploeg, Dunn, Kurko, \& Bauman, 2012)

  Baseline, Weeks 2, 4, 6, and at the 2-week follow-up (Week 8)

• Changes in Time Spent Engaged in Light-Intensity Physical Activity (i.e., walking) as a Student

  Five-item modified Occupational Sitting and Physical Activity Questionnaire (OSPAQ; Chau, Van Der Ploeg, Dunn, Kurko, \& Bauman, 2012)

  Baseline, Weeks 2, 4, 6, and at the 2-week follow-up (Week 8)

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Action Planning towards reducing occupational (student) sitting time

  Baseline, Weeks 2, 4, 6, and at the 2-week follow-up (Week 8)

• Coping Planning towards reducing occupational (student) sitting time

  Baseline, Weeks 2, 4, 6, and at the 2-week follow-up (Week 8)

• Action Control towards reducing occupational (student) sitting time

  Baseline, Weeks 2, 4, 6, and at the 2-week follow-up (Week 8)

• Self-rated Work Performance

  Baseline, Week 6

• Role limitations due to physical health

  Baseline, Week 6

Study Arms (2)

HAPA-treatment

EXPERIMENTAL

(SB-related planning + daily text messages)

Behavioral: (SB-related planning + daily text messages)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

(No Treatment) Participants randomly assigned to the control group will receive no information or intervention of any kind and will only be asked to complete the outcome questionnaires.

Interventions

(SB-related planning + daily text messages) BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive a one-on-one behavioral counseling session, and planning sheet as reference for developing strategies as part of their Action/Coping Plan. Participants will be asked to form 3-4 actions plans specifying when, where, how, and for how long they would reduce occupational (student) sitting time; and anticipate potential barriers and identify ways they could be overcome. Strategies will explicitly focus on the ultimate objective of increasing break frequency to every 30-45 minutes, achieving a break duration of 2-3 minutes, and increasing time spent standing and engaged in light-intensity PA, in the occupational domain (i.e. as a student; during school-related activities). Participants will also receive sedentary behaviour-related text messages twice daily, depending on their preferences and schedule, which will act as mini-booster interventions.

HAPA-treatment

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Must be 18+ years of age
• Must be a full-time university and/or college student
• Must be in self-reported good mental and physical health
• Must be able to read and write in English
• Must have access to a computer with Internet
• Must own a mobile phone with free unlimited incoming text messages.

You may not qualify if:

• Under 18 years of age
• Do not read or write in English
• Not a full-time university and/or college student
• Do not have access to a computer with Internet
• Do not own a mobile phone with free unlimited incoming text messages and/or emails
• Pregnant
• Medical condition that prohibits individual from being physically active.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Western University, Canada: lead

Study Sites (1)

The University of Western Ontario

London, Ontario, Canada

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Sedentary Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Model Details: This study will employ a prospective, 2-group, repeated measure (2x5), randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. All participants will be randomized into either a 6-week HAPA-treatment (SB-related planning + text messages intervention) or waitlisted control (no treatment) condition. All primary outcomes will be assessed at four time points (baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks), and again at a two-week follow-up (8 weeks). Action and coping planning and action control towards reducing occupational (student) sitting time will be assessed at the same time points. Secondary outcome assessments (i.e., work- and health-related outcomes) will occur pre-(baseline) and post-intervention (6 weeks).

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 24, 2018
• First Posted: November 30, 2018
• Study Start: January 1, 2019
• Primary Completion: June 1, 2020
• Study Completion: June 1, 2020
• Last Updated: June 16, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-06

Locations

CA (1)