NCT03803085

A Group-Based Walking Study Using WeChat to Enhance Physical Activity Among Older Adults

A Group-Based Walking Study Using WeChat to Enhance Physical Activity Among Older Adults: The Role of Social Engagement

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 60 (actual)
• Sponsor: Brandeis University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The aim for the study is to use the function WeRun in the application WeChat to encourage physical activity and social engagement among community dwelling older adults and their family members and friends. The specific aims are to test the effectiveness of a social contact and comparison intervention for increasing regular daily physical activity among community dwelling older adults, and to examine the potential effectiveness of WeChat in cultivating social engagement and well-being among community dwelling older adults.

Detailed description

The aim for the study is to use the function WeRun in the application WeChat to encourage physical activity and social engagement among community dwelling older adults. The investigators asked participants in the social engagement group to use the WeRun function in WeChat to track their daily walking steps and to compare their performance with their group members for 4 weeks. To encourage social engagement among their group members, the daily walking steps were calculated and the participant who has the highest step count in the group will be indicated each day.Those in the control group will only use the WeRun function in WeChat to track their own walking steps. The investigators expected that the participants in the social contact group will walk more often and report more social activities than those in the control group, who will not compete with their peers in daily walking. To test these predictions, daily walking steps and the total walking steps per week were obtained and compared across groups. The nature and the extent of change was analyzed over the four weeks. Exercise self-efficacy was measured using a measure based on Bandura's model. Social engagement was measured using the short Lubben Social Network Scale, a self report measure of social engagement on a 12-item scale, and physical activity was measured using International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), a self-report measure of physical activity on a 12-item scale.

Conditions

• Inactivity
• Sedentary Behavior

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Control condition	Participants in the control group only saw their own daily walking steps using the WeChat. They did not use WeChat to see other group members' daily steps and did not contact other group members. The participants were asked to use the app every day. A message (through WeChat) was sent to remind them to use the application if they had not done so within three days.
BEHAVIORAL	Treatment condition	Participants in the experimental condition used WeChat for 4 weeks to see their own and other's walking steps and also were able to contact other group members. The participants were asked to use the application every day. A message (through the group chat) was sent to remind them to use the application if they have not done so within three days.

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-10-30
• Primary completion: 2019-06-01
• Completion: 2019-07-02
• First posted: 2019-01-14
• Last updated: 2020-11-09
• Results posted: 2020-11-09

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States