Abstract
As physical inactivity is one of the four leading risk factors for mortality, it should be intensively treated. Therefore, this one-year follow-up study aimed to evaluate the long-term effects of a preventive app to increase physical activity in German adults under real-life circumstances. Data collection took place from July 2019 to July 2021 and included six online questionnaires. Physical activity was studied as the primary outcome based on MET-minutes per week (metabolic equivalent). Secondary outcomes included health-related quality of life based on a mental (MCS) and physical health component summary score (PCS). At the time of publication, 46/65 participants completed the study (median 52 years, 81.5% women). A significant increase of physical activity was observed in people with a low/moderate baseline activity during the first four months of follow-up (median increase by 490 MET-minutes per week, p < 0.001, r = 0.649). Both MCS (median increase by 2.8, p = 0.006, r = 0.344) and PCS (median increase by 2.6, p < 0.001, r = 0.521) significantly increased during the first two months and the BMI significantly decreased during the first six months after the intervention (median decrease by 0.96 kg/m2, p < 0.001, r = 0.465). Thus, this study provides evidence for the medium-term impact of the app, since the effects decreased over time. However, due to the chosen study design and a sizeable loss to follow-up, the validity of these findings is limited.
Highlights
Physical inactivity is a crucial risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, and several types of cancer [1] and is listed as one of the four leading risk factors for mortality by the World Health Organization [2]
In order to control for effects of health behavior not related to “VIDEA bewegt”, the usage of other health apps or participation in any health courses other than the ones provided by the app was included into the questionnaires
Between July 2019 and June 2020, 737 individuals registered for the “VIDEA bewegt”
Summary
Physical inactivity is a crucial risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, and several types of cancer [1] and is listed as one of the four leading risk factors for mortality by the World Health Organization [2]. Most apps studied are not commercially available [16,17], and were predominantly tested in controlled clinical settings [6] Both of these factors have led to a lack of information about real-world effectiveness. The validity of studies conducted in the past was often limited due to small sample sizes and short periods of data collection [18], leading solely to short-term effects [19]. The latter, in particular, is a considerable problem, since the prevention of non-communicable diseases requires sustained behavior change, which, according to the health behavior change model “Health Action Process Approach” (HAPA)
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