Associations Between Commercial App Use and Physical Activity: Cross-Sectional Study.

Jasmine Maria Petersen,Lucy K Lewis,Ivanka Prichard,Eva Kemps

doi:10.2196/17152

Abstract

BackgroundIn today’s society, commercial physical activity apps (eg, Fitbit and Strava) are ubiquitous and hold considerable potential to increase physical activity behavior. Many commercial physical activity apps incorporate social components, in particular app-specific communities (allowing users to interact with other app users) or the capacity to connect to existing social networking platforms (eg, Facebook or Instagram). There is a growing need to gain greater insights into whether commercial physical activity apps and specific components of these apps (social components) are beneficial in facilitating physical activity.ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the relationship between the use of commercial physical activity apps and engagement in physical activity. The social components of commercial physical activity apps (app-specific communities and existing social networking platforms) were also explored. This involved isolating specific features (eg, sharing, providing, and receiving encouragement, comparisons, and competitions) of app-specific communities and existing social networking platforms that were most valuable in facilitating physical activity.MethodsA cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted. Participants were 1432 adults (mean age 34.1 years, 1256/1432, 88.00% female) who completed measures assessing physical activity, the use of commercial physical activity apps, and engagement with app-specific communities and existing social networking platforms.ResultsOverall, 53.14% (761/1432) of the sample reported engaging with a commercial physical activity app. The most commonly used apps were Fitbit (171/761, 22.5%), Strava (130/761, 17.1%), and Garmin (102/761, 13.4%). The use of physical activity apps was significantly associated with physical activity. Notably, the use of app-specific communities and existing social networking platforms facilitated significantly greater engagement in physical activity. The features of app-specific communities that were most beneficial in promoting engagement in physical activity were providing encouragement to a partner, receiving encouragement from close friends and family, and engaging in competitions with members of public app-specific communities. In relation to existing social networking platforms, sharing physical activity posts predicted engagement in physical activity.ConclusionsThe findings indicate that app-specific communities and existing social networking platforms are components of apps that are fundamental in facilitating physical activity. They further suggest that commercial physical activity apps afford high population level reach and hold great potential to promote engagement in physical activity, an important public health consideration.

Highlights

BackgroundPhysical activity confers many health benefits, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, obesity, mental illness, and premature mortality [1,2,3]
Future research could examine potential interactions between socioeconomic status (SES), fitness device ownership, app use, and physical activity. Notwithstanding these limitations, this study provides an important contribution to existing literature by comprehensively exploring the use of commercial physical activity apps and their associated social components in a large cross-sectional sample
The findings indicated that the use of commercial physical activity apps facilitates engagement in physical activity and, have great potential to disseminate scalable interventions to improve health behavior

Summary

Introduction

BackgroundPhysical activity confers many health benefits, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, obesity, mental illness, and premature mortality [1,2,3]. This presents a shortcoming of research to date, such that despite the accessibility and ubiquity of commercial apps, there is limited literature exploring their use and influence on physical activity This indicates the need to gain greater insight into the use of commercial apps to ascertain their capacity to increase levels of physical activity and, improve public health. The use of app-specific communities and existing social networking platforms facilitated significantly greater engagement in physical activity. Conclusions: The findings indicate that app-specific communities and existing social networking platforms are components of apps that are fundamental in facilitating physical activity. They further suggest that commercial physical activity apps afford high population level reach and hold great potential to promote engagement in physical activity, an important public health consideration

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