Mobility Disability, Walking Difficulty
Conditions
Keywords
exercise adherence, older adults, mobility disability, walking difficulty, pilot study, randomized controlled trial
Brief summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if messages focused on not losing the functional benefits of exercise can help older adults with walking difficulty continue to exercise regularly. The main questions it aims to answer are: Do these messages make people more likely to anticipate regretting it if they do not exercise? Does more anticipated regret make it more likely they will exercise more regularly? Researchers will compare two versions of messages to see if the content of these one of these message types is more effective than the other. Participants will complete a daily 5-minute at home exercise program for 4 months and complete regular online surveys to track their progress and report their feelings regarding regret.
Detailed description
The goal of the proposed clinical trial is to identify strategies to blunt the effects of post-intervention decay in older adults with difficulty walking. While early improvements from exercise are large, they typically plateau and then decline post-intervention. This early improvement, however, creates an opportunity. Similar to daily interactions common with private companies, the investigators seek to increase the rate of conversion - that is, completing the task - while considering the improvements from engaging in exercise to be accumulated benefits. Drawing from behavioral economics, then, the investigators propose that the conversion rate to act (i.e., increase the likelihood of completing daily exercises) may be increased by using loss aversion (i.e., loss of accumulated benefits) in the form of messaging. In this study the investigators will conduct a randomized trial among individuals (N=128) age 65 and over who have serious difficulty walking and have completed an at-home, brief strength training intervention, comparing 4 months of standard adherence reminders to standard adherence reminders supplemented with periodic loss aversion messages. The proposed trial aims to answer the questions: (1) Does the supplementation of loss aversion messaging increase anticipated regret for inaction among older adults previously enrolled in an at-home exercise program? (2) Does higher anticipated regret predict greater intention to exercise and exercise adherence post-intervention?
Interventions
BEHAVIORALBrief Daily At-Home Strength Training Program
FAST is a brief, daily, at-home exercise program designed for older adults with difficulty walking. The program includes 5 exercises performed for 30 seconds each, during which time participants try to complete as many repetitions as they can, followed by 30 seconds of rest. The 5 exercises are: chair stands, countertop pushups, aerobic steps, resistance band rows, and walking laps. Participants are sent daily reminders and links for self-monitoring their performance.
BEHAVIORALLoss Aversion Messaging
Loss aversion messages will be included with those messages in the experimental condition on a maximum of 3 out of the 7 days each week. There will be 3 themes (related to their performance of daily exercises) featured as topics for the loss aversion messages. The three themes are: 1) standing up from a chair (i.e., chair stands), 2) going up and down stairs (i.e., aerobic steps), and 3) walking longer distances (i.e., walking laps).
BEHAVIORALStandard Adherence Reminder Messaging
Standard reminders to perform exercise will be delivered daily.
Sponsors
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Completed 12 months of FAST intervention
Exclusion criteria
* No planned surgeries within the upcoming 4 months
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Anticipated Regret of Inaction | Baseline, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, and Week 16 | One is equivalent to definitely not anticipating regret and 8 indicates definitely anticipating regret. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Intention to Complete Exercise Program | Baseline, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, and Week 16 | One indicates definitely not intending to complete all of the exercise program over the next week and 8 indicates definitely intending to complete all of the exercise program over the next week. |
| Adherence to Exercise Program | Data collected daily, assessed over the 16 weeks of intervention. | A percentage of days on which the exercise program was completed (0-100%). |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTJordan D Kurth, PhD
Outcome results
None listed