Exercise Adherence, Physical Activity, Wellbeing
Conditions
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence, Digital Health, University Students, Exercise Adherence, Physical Activity, Personalized Exercise, Exercise Program, Wellbeing, Randomized Controlled Trial, Mobile Health
Brief summary
This study evaluated whether an AI-personalized digital exercise programme could improve exercise adherence, physical activity, wellbeing, and physical performance among university students compared with a standardized digital exercise programme. University students were randomly assigned to one of two digital exercise programmes for 8 weeks. The AI-personalized programme adjusted exercise recommendations using participant characteristics, previous exercise adherence, readiness, pain, safety information, and physical performance measures. The comparator provided a standardized digital exercise programme without adaptive weekly personalization. The primary outcome was mean weekly exercise adherence. Secondary outcomes included physical activity, wellbeing, countermovement jump performance, lower-limb reaction time, engagement, usability, and safety.
Detailed description
This was an 8-week, two-group randomized controlled trial conducted among undergraduate students at Transilvania University of Brașov, Romania. The study compared an AI-personalized digital exercise programme with a standardized digital exercise programme delivered within the same digital study environment. Participants assigned to the AI-personalized group received exercise recommendations through MoveAI-Student version 2.1.0 using the version-controlled v1.3-adaptive system. The system combined prespecified safety rules with a supervised recommendation model. Personalization used participant characteristics, sport participation, weekly training volume, countermovement jump performance, simple and choice reaction time, readiness, pain, previous-week adherence, and safety information. Exercise recommendations could specify session frequency, duration, intensity, and additional emphasis on lower-limb power or reactive drills. Recommendations were updated once per intervention week. Progression was limited by predefined safety rules, and exercise load could be reduced when pain or an adverse-event flag was present. Human override of recommendations was permitted when required. Participants assigned to the standardized digital comparator used the same digital study environment but did not receive the adaptive weekly prescription procedure. The comparator programme prescribed three exercise sessions per week, with each session lasting 35 minutes. The primary outcome was mean weekly exercise adherence, calculated from completed sessions relative to prescribed sessions across the 8-week intervention. Secondary outcomes included total physical activity assessed with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form, WHO-5 wellbeing, countermovement jump performance, simple reaction time, choice reaction time, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, application engagement, satisfaction, perceived usefulness, usability, sitting time, body weight, body mass index, and adverse events. The study was designed to estimate the effect of the adaptive programme as a complete intervention compared with standardized digital exercise. It was not designed to isolate the independent effect of the algorithm from differences in exercise prescription or completed exercise exposure.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALAI-Personalized Digital Exercise Programme
An 8-week digital exercise intervention using MoveAI-Student version 2.1.0 and the v1.3-adaptive system. Initial exercise prescriptions ranged from three to five sessions per week, 30 to 45 minutes per session, at moderate-to-vigorous intensity. Recommendations were updated weekly using adherence and safety information. Prescriptions could modify session frequency, duration, intensity, and emphasis on lower-limb power or reactive drills. Predefined safety rules limited weekly progression and allowed reduced exercise load when pain or an adverse-event flag was present.
BEHAVIORALStandardized Digital Exercise Programme
An 8-week standardized digital exercise intervention delivered through the same study application. Participants were prescribed three exercise sessions per week, with each session lasting 35 minutes. The programme did not use the adaptive weekly prescription procedure applied in the AI-personalized group.
Sponsors
Transilvania University of Brasov
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Participants were randomized after completion of baseline assessments to one of two parallel groups for 8 weeks: an AI-personalized digital exercise programme or a standardized digital exercise programme.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Undergraduate student currently enrolled at Transilvania University of Brașov. Age 18 to 65 years at baseline. Written informed consent provided before any study-specific procedure. Able to safely complete the standardized countermovement jump protocol using OptoJump. Able to safely complete the lower-limb simple and choice reaction-time protocols using BlazePod. Access to a smartphone compatible with the study application. Willing to use the study application throughout the 8-week intervention. Able to attend both baseline and post-intervention assessments.
Exclusion criteria
Acute musculoskeletal injury or pain that made jumping or rapid lower-limb responses unsafe. Medical condition contraindicating exercise participation or study testing. Use of medication known to affect neuromuscular performance or reaction time, as defined in the approved protocol. Concurrent participation in another interventional exercise or digital-health trial. Inability or unwillingness to complete the required assessments or the 8-week digital intervention.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mean Weekly Exercise Adherence | From intervention initiation through the end of Week 8 | Weekly adherence was calculated as completed exercise sessions relative to prescribed exercise sessions within each intervention week. The participant-level mean across the 8-week intervention was used as the primary outcome. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Total Physical Activity | Baseline and at the end of Week 8 | Total physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF) and expressed as MET-minutes per week. |
| WHO-5 Well-Being Score | Baseline and at the end of Week 8 | Wellbeing was assessed using the WHO-5 Well-Being Index. |
| Countermovement Jump Best Height | Baseline and at the end of Week 8 | Best countermovement jump height was assessed using OptoJump Next and expressed in centimeters. |
| Countermovement Jump Mean Height | Baseline and at the end of Week 8 | Mean countermovement jump height was assessed using OptoJump Next and expressed in centimeters. |
| Simple Reaction Time | Baseline and at the end of Week 8 | Description: Lower-limb simple reaction time was assessed using BlazePod and expressed in milliseconds. |
| Choice Reaction Time | Baseline and at the end of Week 8 | Lower-limb choice reaction time was assessed using BlazePod and expressed in milliseconds. |
Countries
Romania
Outcome results
None listed