Abstract
With an ageing population, healthy ageing becomes more important. Healthy nutrition is part of this process and can be supported in many ways. The PROMISS trial studies the effect of increasing protein intake in older adults on their physical functioning. Within this trial, a sub-study was performed, researching the added effect of using a diet-tracking app enhanced with persuasive and (optional) gamification techniques. The goal was to see how older adult participants received such technology within their diet program. There were 48 participants included in this sub-study, of which 36 completed the study period of 6 months. Our results on adherence and user evaluation show that a dedicated app used within the PROMISS trial is a feasible way to engage older adults in diet tracking. On average, participants used the app 83% of the days, during a period of on average 133 days. User-friendliness was evaluated with an average score of 4.86 (out of 7), and experienced effectiveness was evaluated with an average score of 4.57 (out of 7). However, no effect of the technology on protein intake was found. The added gamification elements did not have a different effect compared with the version without those elements. However, some participants did like the added gamification elements, and it can thus be nice to add them as additional features for participants that like them. This article also studies whether personal characteristics correlate with any of the other results. Although some significant results were found, this does not give a clear view on which types of participants like or benefit from this technology.
Highlights
As populations are ageing, healthy ageing becomes more important
The results show that participants from the gamification condition rated experiencing motivation significantly better (p-value = 0.037)
We conclude that using a tablet with a diet-tracking application, with persuasive communication, dedicated to the trial is a feasible way to engage participants
Summary
Healthy ageing becomes more important. One of the aspects contributing to healthy ageing is healthy nutrition. Gamification is used in many different domains, among which is healthy lifestyle [4]. In the field of healthy lifestyle applications, different types of apps can be found, with the majority focusing on physical activity and (healthy) nutrition [4]. In the review by Johnson (2016), seven promises of gamification for health and well-being are mentioned. Among those promises are the broad appeal and applicability and the motivation it gives to users. Apps for a healthy lifestyle often aim to change the behaviour of the users Achieving this is often more successful when behaviour change techniques (BCTs) are incorporated in the intervention [12,13]
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