A Personalized Technology-Based Intervention for Physical Activity

NCT07812766 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: LS-19-076
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 108
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to learn whether a personalized mobile app can help adults exercise more. The in-house developed app, called iMovin', works with a wireless activity tracker worn on the wrist. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does a personalized version of iMovin' (with features matched to a person's exercise motivations) increase physical activity more than a standard, non-personalized version? Does using iMovin' change how people are motivated to exercise (for example, moving from doing it because they feel forced to, toward doing it because they genuinely want to)? Researchers compared a personalized version of iMovin' to a plaecebo version (with all features available in regularly randomized layouts) to see which one works better at increasing physical activity. At the start, participants will answer a questionnaire about their exercise habits and motivations. Based on their answers, they will be grouped by motivation type and then randomly assigned to either the personalized app or the non-personalized app. Participants:

• Wore a wireless activity tracker every day (except while showering, sleeping, or charging it) for the length of the study
• Used the iMovin' app on their phone, which syncs with the tracker to record daily activity
• Logged at least 100 steps of activity per day
• Completed follow-up questionnaires about their exercise behavior and motivation
• Attended a first session to sign up, get a tracker, and complete a baseline questionnaire, and a final session to return the tracker, complete a last questionnaire, and be debriefed
• Completed questionnaires about their exercise motivation every 28 days for 4 periods.

Conditions

Motivation for Physical Activity

Keywords

physical activity; self-determination theory; digital nudging; randomized controlled trial

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Daily Step Count

  The daily number of steps taken was collected from the physical activity trackers (Fitbit wearable devices) worn by participants throughout the study and stored in the intervention's backend database for analysis. Individual-daily observations were aggregated to mean daily step counts within each 28-day period.

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 16 weeks (four 28-day periods)

• Daily Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) Minutes

  The daily duration of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was collected from the physical activity trackers (Fitbit wearable devices) worn by participants throughout the study and stored in the intervention's backend database for analysis. Individual-daily observations were aggregated to mean daily MVPA minutes within each 28-day period.

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 16 weeks (four 28-day periods)

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Exercise motivation

  Assessed at baseline and at the start of each subsequent 28-day period, through end of treatment at 16 weeks

• Daily App Usage

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 16 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Control

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Participants received the app and a layout randomized anew every 28 days.

Behavioral: Default Layout_No Design Changes

Treatment

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants receive a mobile app. There is personalization of the mobile app's interface based on the motivation profiled by the system's backend algorithms.

Behavioral: Digital Nudging

Interventions

Digital Nudging BEHAVIORAL

2 changes are made in the intervention via the iMovin' mobile app: 1. To nudge the user's attention to the mobile app, the intervention incorporated out-of-app manipulations as a nudge-based feature. The notifications displayed targeted messages that were aligned with the nudge mechanisms assigned for each profiled motivation for physical activity. 2. Manipulation was also performed in the mobile app, specifically how references to its features were presented to its users via an in-app tab bar. The tab bar is a navigation bar found at the bottom of the app's landing page. It was one of the first visual elements viewed by the user when they opened the app.The user interacted with the tab bar to access the features in the mobile app; there was no other available way to access these features. The tab bar was configured to display different sets of salient features for each user.

Treatment

Default Layout_No Design Changes BEHAVIORAL

Participants received the app and a layout randomized anew every 28 days.

Control

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• NUS Students (Include undergraduates and postgraduates) who are current students for the two semesters of AY2019/2020 (For Phase Two only)
• Generally healthy (e.g. do not have chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases)
• Owns a smartphone running at least iOS11 or Android 8.0 (API Level 26) 4.4
• Has access to mobile data or WiFi
• Preferably, owns a Fitbit activity tracker (however, if the individual does not own a Fitbit, a wireless activity tracker was loaned to him/her)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ong Zhi Quan: lead
• National University of Singapore: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

School of Computing

Singapore, Singapore

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Motor Activity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: TRIPLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Lecturer

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 1, 2026
• First Posted: September 10, 2026
• Study Start: March 1, 2019
• Primary Completion: May 31, 2020
• Study Completion: October 30, 2021
• Last Updated: October 1, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

SG (1)