Telemedicine
Conditions
Brief summary
The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of gamified competition (delivered through a smartphone) for improving the physical activity and sleep of medical interns.
Detailed description
Due to their high-stress workloads, medical interns tend to have lower sleep and decreased physical activity. The goal of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of gamified competition (delivered through a smartphone) for improving the physical activity and sleep of medical interns. During the study, they are teamed up by programs and institutions and competes with other teams, which aim to motivate them to have more physical activity and sleep duration during their internship year. The primary aim of this study is to investigate whether introducing competition mechanisms into mobile health (mHealth) interventions can improve a medical intern's activity-related behavioral outcomes: daily step counts and sleep duration. The first secondary aim is to assess the time-varying competition effect on their behavioral outcomes. The second secondary aim is to evaluate how social cooperation (competing within the same institution or program) moderates the effect of competition on behavioral outcomes. The first exploratory aim is to assess the competition effect on study engagement and the second exploratory aim is to evaluate the competition effect on mental outcome, mood score.
Interventions
Participants will receive three types of push notifications: 1. Alert of competition type (steps or sleep) and opponent (Sunday 9pm), 2. Competition score status update (Wednesday 9pm, Saturday 11am), and 3. Competition final results (Monday 12pm).
BEHAVIORALIntern Health Study mobile app
The Intern Health Study mobile app is able to conduct a daily mood survey. It also aggregates and visualizes historical data on intern mood, activity, and sleep.
Participant can view their current competition scoreboard and competition history at any time via the study app.
Sponsors
University of Michigan
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Randomization scheme
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Medical intern during the 2020-2021 internship year * Downloaded app, completed consent and filled out baseline survey prior to June 16th, 2020
Exclusion criteria
* None
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Average daily step count | 7 days | Participants' daily step counts are recorded through a Fitbit or an apple watch. High step counts are considered a positive outcome as it indicates more physical activity. For teams randomized into competition arm and randomized to compete on step count, their average daily step count is compared with the average step count of the opponent team. |
| Average daily sleep minutes | 7 days | Participant's nightly sleep duration (in minutes) is recorded through a Fitbit or an apple watch. High sleep duration is considered a positive outcome. For teams randomized into competition arm and randomized to compete on sleep duration, their average daily sleep minutes is compared with the average sleep minutes of the opponent team. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Average daily mood score | 7 days | Through the study mobile app, participants enter a mood score (scale 1-10) every day of the study. 1 corresponds to lowest mood and 10 corresponds to highest mood |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed