Starting a Weekday Outdoor Walking (WOW) Routine

NCT05980676 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2023-014
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 150
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this 4-week randomized study is to evaluate the effect of personalized plans plus an email campaign, with and without email-based coaching (eCoaching), on engagement in a new weekday outdoor walking (WOW) routine and average daily step count. Approximately 150 participants will be recruited via paid ads on Facebook and Instagram. Participants will be randomized to a control group, an intervention group without eCoaching, and an intervention group with eCoaching. The control group will be told that they can work a WOW routine on their own, with the opportunity to take part in the intervention after completing the 4-week follow-up assessment. Both intervention groups will complete an activity that will guide the creation of habit plan (e.g., When I finish eating lunch at work, then I will put on my walking shoes and go outside) and receive a 2-week long personalized email campaign. The primary outcome of interest is change in average daily step count from the month prior to the month after baseline assessment, as compared across the three groups. It is hypothesized that the intervention groups will result in an increase in daily step count, as compared to the control group. Secondary outcomes include habit strength at one-month follow-up and change in self-reported sleep quality and self-efficacy from baseline to follow-up.

Conditions

Physical Inactivity

Keywords

Behavioral health; Health behavior change; Habit formation; Implementation intentions

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in average daily step count

  Change in average daily step count from the month prior to the month after baseline assessment, as compared across the three groups.

  Four weeks

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Instigation habit strength

  Four weeks

• Change in sleep quality

  Four weeks

• Change in general self-efficacy

  Four weeks

Study Arms (3)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

The control group will be told that they can work a WOW routine on their own, with the opportunity to complete the intervention after completing the 4-week follow-up assessment.

No-Coach

EXPERIMENTAL

This is a fully automated intervention. The No-Coach group will complete an online activity that will guide the creation of a habitual instigation implementation intention (e.g., When I finish eating lunch at work, then I will put on my walking shoes and go outside) and receive a 2-week long personalized email campaign. They will not be able to reply to the emails for support.

Behavioral: Personalized Two-Week Email-Based Program

Coached

EXPERIMENTAL

This is a semi-automated intervention. The Coached group will complete an online activity that will guide the creation of a habitual instigation implementation intention (e.g., When I finish eating lunch at work, then I will put on my walking shoes and go outside) and receive a 2-week long personalized email campaign. Prompts will be added to the end of each email such that these participants can respond to give feedback, ask questions, and receive additional support from a (human) coach.

Behavioral: Personalized Two-Week Email-Based Program

Interventions

Personalized Two-Week Email-Based Program BEHAVIORAL

Both intervention groups will complete an activity that will guide the creation of a habitual instigation implementation intention (e.g., When I finish eating lunch at work, then I will put on my walking shoes and go outside) and receive a 2-week long personalized email campaign. The Coached group will be able to reply to the emails to give feedback, ask questions, and receive additional support.

Coached; No-Coach

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 55 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• years of age
• Indicates desire to increases daily step count
• Indicates having a safe and convenient location to conduct outdoor walks
• Uses an iPhone
• Can upload step count screenshots
• Intends to bring their phone on their walks
• Has email address that they check \~daily
• Has an average daily step count for month prior to enrolling \<5,000/day, as determined by phone step data (screenshot submitted for verification).

You may not qualify if:

• Any medical issues that could be worsened by walking. This will be assessed via the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q), minus the question asking the participant if they take medication for blood pressure or a heart condition. Researchers feel this question is overly cautious and would exclude many individuals who would otherwise qualify and benefit from walking regularly.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine: lead

Study Sites (1)

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine-Auburn Campus (VCOM-Auburn)

Auburn, Alabama, 36832, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Sedentary Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Joshua C Hollingsworth, PharmD, PhD

  Assistant Professor at VCOM-Auburn

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: The statistician performing statistical analysis will be blinded to group assignment.
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 28, 2023
• First Posted: August 8, 2023
• Study Start: April 11, 2024
• Primary Completion: March 1, 2025
• Study Completion: March 1, 2025
• Last Updated: September 15, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)