Cardiovascular Disease
Conditions
Keywords
Mobile Health, Smartphone, Cardiovascular health, College students, Smoking, Physical activity, Diet, BMI, Blood pressure, Cholesterol, Glucose, Text, Facebook, Instagram, Push Notifications, Ecological Momentary Assessment
Brief summary
The purpose of the study is to investigate the preservation or promotion of health in students during the college years.
Detailed description
Freshman college students at Northwestern University will be cluster randomized to two groups based on their dorm. The intervention for one group will target smoking, physical activity, BMI and consumption of fruits and vegetables. The intervention in the second group will target traveling behavior, sexual risk behaviors, sunscreen use and hydration. Baseline health and lifestyle measures will be assessed for each participant prior to intervention. Health assessments will measure height, weight, fasting glucose, total cholesterol and carbon monoxide. The lifestyle measure will ask questions about physical activity, diet, alcohol and tobacco use, safe sex practices, driving habits, and sunscreen use. These same measures will be repeated during the fall of the students' sophomore and junior years. Participants will be given a mobile application and encouraged to track some behaviors. In addition, participants will be asked to answer weekly questions regarding health behaviors.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALEnvironmental Cues
Text messages, informational posts and reminders supporting healthy behaviors.
BEHAVIORALSocial Support
Participants may interact with each other through a private Facebook group.
BEHAVIORALMobile Health Application
An application on a smart phone that is designed to help individuals self-monitor health behaviors.
BEHAVIORALEducational Materials
Educational materials regarding healthy behaviors.
Sponsors
American Heart Association
Northwestern University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
17 Years to 26 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Freshman at Northwestern University in the fall of 2015 * Live on campus * Read, write and speak English * Own an Iphone or Android smart phone
Exclusion criteria
* Pregnant or trying to become pregnant * Established cardiovascular disease * Unstable psychiatric or medical condition
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| American Heart Association MyLifeCheck (Simple 7) score as a measure of cardiovascular health | 2 years | Participant's Simple 7 score is the sum of 7 cardiovascular health metrics attained at ideal levels as defined by American Heart Association. 1) physically active - Exercising at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week. 2) Good diet quality - Eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, at least 3 servings of whole grain, and no more than 16 oz. of soda per day, rarely or never eats high sodium foods or processed meats. 3) nonsmoking - nonsmoker for at least a year. 4) not overweight - BMI \< 25 kg/m2. 5) normoglycemic - fasting glucose \< 100 mg/dl. 6) not hypercholesterolemic : total Cholesterol \< 200 mg/dl. 7) not hypertensive. Blood Pressure \<120/\<80. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed