NCT05621044

Physical Activity Smartphone App for African American Men (FitBros) Ph II

Smartphone App to Increase and Maintain Physical Activity in African American Men (FitBrothers) Phase II

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 36 (actual)
• Sponsor: Klein Buendel, Inc. · Industry
• Sex: Male
• Age: 30 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Low physical activity levels contribute to African American men experiencing health disparities across a number of chronic diseases. Studies have been effective in increasing physical activity levels in African American men; but few have targeted maintenance of behavior change and none have utilized emerging technologies. The purpose of the current study is to further develop a mobile phone application for African American men that will help them initiate and maintain their physical activity levels.

Detailed description

Physical activity (PA) is a modifiable risk factor for a number of preventable chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, strokes, obesity, and diabetes. These conditions constitute health disparities for African American men. Behavioral interventions have proven to be effective in promoting increases in physical activity. While behavior change programs have been shown to assist participants in sustaining behavior change, very few programs have specifically targeted African American men. The use of mHealth, as opposed to other avenues of intervention delivery, is based on published reports documenting that African Americans perceive mobile technology as an acceptable means of intervention delivery. In addition, ownership of smartphones and the use of text messaging are highest among African Americans compared to other ethnic groups. Therefore, a mHealth intervention targeting African American men seems feasible and potentially effective. Our preliminary data show that a PA maintenance smartphone app for African American men that contains self-monitoring, goal-setting, reinforcement, and behavioral lessons was well received by this population. However, the qualitative data revealed that the men believed additional components were necessary to fully tailor the app for African American men, including personalization, chronic disease health information, dietary information, competition, and incentives. In addition, the investigators will tailor the intervention to the sociocultural needs of African American men. The purpose of the Fast-Track STTR is to incorporate these elements within an existing smartphone app. The FitBrothers app was developed through a Phase I consisting of (1) iterative focus groups, (2) developing a conceptual model, and (3) conducting beta testing and this Phase II will consist of (1) developing a full-scale FitBrothers app, (2), conducting usability testing, and (3) conducting a comparative effectiveness trial to assess the effectiveness of the app compared to a similar, well-known app in the marketplace. To our knowledge, no study has utilized mobile phones as a means of effecting PA levels in African American men. FitBrothers will address an unmet need in the marketplace as it will be the first smartphone app that is targeted toward PA adoption and maintenance in African American men. The fact that mHealth is acceptable to- and the fact that the application will be developed in collaboration with African American men, leads us to hypothesize that African American men will view the mHealth intervention as acceptable, feasible, and effective. The Fast-Track STTR project will be led by a team that has worked together previously and includes researchers and multimedia developers from Klein Buendel, Inc. (KB), Georgetown University, and Pennington Biomedical Research Center.

Conditions

• Exercise
• Health Behavior
• Technology

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	FitBrothers smartphone active app	The FitBrothers smartphone active app is designed to assist African American men with adopting and maintaining PA. The app will be developed with significant input from African American men and contain self-monitoring, goal setting, reward, and educational components. The app will include additional elements including PA adoption strategies, competitions, incentives, health information, and greater compatibility with activity monitoring devices. The intervention is based on the Social Cognitive and Self-Determination theories and is culturally tailored.
BEHAVIORAL	Nike Training Club	The app is designed to increase fitness in users through a variety of mechanisms. Users are able to track and monitor their physical activity level, set goals, engage in competitions, and upload activity data from a wearable. They will also be provided with preset workouts, receive guidance from an expert, and receive personalized plans that automatically adapt to user behavior.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-05-01
• Primary completion: 2026-01-22
• Completion: 2026-01-22
• First posted: 2022-11-17
• Last updated: 2026-02-03

Locations

3 sites across 1 country: United States