Elderly, Physical Activity, Sedentary
Conditions
Brief summary
To develop and implement a physical activity promotion intervention for older adults with or without chronic disease living in an urban environment.
Detailed description
The World Health organization recommends that all adults should aim for 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on at least five days of the week. The importance of physical activity for promoting heath is complicated when considering inactive older adults and chronic conditions. A problematic cycle emerges where physical inactivity increases the likelihood for developing chronic conditions, and, in turn, many chronic conditions are associated with symptoms that make physical activity more difficult. The investigators aim to develop and implement a physical activity promotion intervention for older adults with or without chronic disease living in an urban environment that considers individual, interpersonal and environmental factors and makes use of a citizen-science approach and modern PA-monitoring devices.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALPhysical activity intervention
The intervention is comprised of 5 steps: 1. Goal setting: Over a step-counter (smartphone app) participants learn about their daily average step count. They are coached to set individual goals 2. Fitness assessment: To recommend suitable frequency and intensity of walking program using mapped trails 3. Structured walking groups: Promoted and communicated via app. Participants can additionally organize walking groups of their own. 4. Feedback: Participants will see individual and group data over the step-counter app, and they can communicate with others via a communication app. They will be incentivized to reach goals through a gamification approach. 5. Invite friends: After 12 weeks, participants are encouraged to invite people who fulfil the inclusion criteria to join the project
Sponsors
University of Zurich
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
60 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Age 60 years or older * Living within or \<5km from Wetzikon (Zurich area) * Understand and speak German * Number of repetitions in the 1-min sit-to-stand test below the 75th percentile compared to the Swiss population (age and sex-specific reference values)
Exclusion criteria
* Symptomatic / unstable cardiovascular disease * Cardiac surgery within one year
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Physical activity as the average daily number of steps | Change from baseline to 6 months | Average daily number of steps measured by accelerometry (Actigraph wGT3x) during 1 week |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Physical activity intensity | Change from baseline to 6 months | Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (min/day) measured by accelerometry (Actigraph wGT3x) during 1 week |
| Exercise capacity (1-minute sit-to-stand test) | Change from baseline to 6 months | Number of repetitions performed in the 1-minute sit-to-stand test |
| Health-related quality of life | Change from baseline to 6 months | Assessed by the EQ-5D |
| Symptoms of anxiety and depression | Change from baseline to 6 months | Assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale |
| Health status | Change from baseline to 6 months | Assessed by the Feeling Thermometer |
| Perceived social support | Change from baseline to 6 months | Assessed by the short version of the Social Support Questionnaire |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Physiological response to walking | At 1 day (during the intervention period) | Physiological response during walking exercise using a metabolic cart in a subgroup of participants |
| Exploratory outcome: Course of daily number of steps | Daily number of steps during the intervention period (6 months) | Exploration of course of number of steps measured by smartphone application |
| Exploratory outcome: Social connections | Through study completion, an average of 6 months | Exploration of the use of the communication and calendar apps |
| Exploratory outcome: Participant satisfaction (questionnaire, quantitative) | Assessed at 6 months (follow-up) | Assessed by self-administered questionnaire |
| Exploratory outcome: Participant satisfaction (interview, qualitative) | Assessed at 6 months (follow-up) | Assessed by semi-structured interview |
| Safety outcome: Adverse events | Through study completion, an average of 6 months | Adverse events are assessed, collected and reported according to guidelines |
Countries
Switzerland
Outcome results
None listed