Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a theory-grounded, text message–based intervention targeting sedentary behaviour among university students. Design: Single-group repeated measures design. Setting: Post-secondary institution in British Columbia, Canada. Methods: Data concerning students’ sedentary behaviour were collected via online survey completed at three time points over the course of one university semester: baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2) and 2-week follow-up (T3). The 6-week intervention comprised four weekly text messages delivered to participants’ mobile devices. Participants’ attitudes regarding the intervention were evaluated together with other measures including constructs in the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA). Sedentary behaviour and physical activity were measured using the Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Questionnaire (PASB-Q). Results: The intervention was generally well received by participants. Preliminary, observational data suggest some indices of user experience were statistically associated with behavioural outcomes and may inform future work. Hours per week of sedentary behaviour did not change across time points, whereas minutes per week of physical activity decreased significantly from baseline to follow-up. Conclusion: While study findings suggest minor modifications to the intervention may improve participants’ engagement, we demonstrated overall that a theory-grounded, text message–based intervention to reduce sedentary behaviour can be feasibly implemented. The efficacy of this intervention should be tested through a randomised control trial with a representative sample of the student population.
Highlights
Questions assessed whether participants found the text messages they received to be understood, motivating, and of appropriate length and frequency; whether participants enjoyed the intervention and engaged with the text messages; and whether they perceived a change in their sedentary behaviour
With respect to physical activity, the number of outliers was minimal at T1 and T2 (n ⩽ 2 for all outcomes), and there were no outliers at T3
To explore the degree to which feasibility measures were related to behaviour, we examined total sedentary time in participants who completed all surveys (N = 72) in relation to three outcomes: perceived behaviour change, enjoyment of the intervention and reported level of engagement with text messages
Summary
Full-time undergraduate students aged 17–25 years were eligible to participate. Recruitment consisted of in-person or poster-based information sessions presented at the start of lectures across a variety of classes and fields of study during the first 2 weeks of the autumn 2018 semester. Interested students were asked to provide their email address and were sent an invitation to participate. The study was approved by the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) research ethics board (E2018.0821.086). Informed consent was obtained from all participants
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