Text Message Program for Physical Activity

Overseen By Mallory Moon, MPH

Age: 18+

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas City

Disqualifiers: Not in eligible group, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: Unknown

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial aims to determine how text messages can boost physical activity using fitness trackers. Participants will receive daily or weekly motivational messages to encourage activity, with some messages tailored to their activity data. Individuals who have participated in a Diabetes Prevention Program or a similar community group and can read, write, and speak English may be suitable candidates. The study does not specify particular exercises, focusing instead on general motivation. As an unphased trial, it offers a unique opportunity to explore new methods for staying motivated and active.

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.

What prior data suggests that the FIT4Life Text Message Program is safe?

Research shows no specific safety data for the FIT4Life Text Message Program itself. However, using text messages to encourage physical activity is generally safe. The messages motivate and remind participants to stay active, helping build healthy habits. Participants also wear fitness trackers to support their goals. This type of program doesn't cause physical side effects, as it mainly involves receiving motivational texts. No evidence suggests any negative effects from the text messaging approach used in the FIT4Life program. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about the FIT4Life Text Message Program because it offers a fresh approach to boosting physical activity through personalized, tech-driven support. Unlike traditional methods like in-person coaching or printed activity guides, this program uses daily or weekly text messages to provide reminders, encouragement, and behavior-change tips based on real-time activity tracker data. This tailored and interactive delivery method is not only convenient but also effectively adapts to each participant's progress, potentially leading to better engagement and improved fitness outcomes.

What evidence suggests that the FIT4Life Text Message Program is effective for increasing physical activity?

Research has shown that text messaging programs like FIT4Life can help people become more active. In this trial, participants will be divided into two groups: the High Arm and the Low Arm. Studies have found that participants in programs like FIT4Life significantly increased their physical activity. This provides strong evidence that the program helps people move more. One study found that participants received most of their program messages and gained less weight, suggesting that staying engaged with the program leads to positive results. These findings suggest that FIT4Life could be a promising way to help people become more active through regular, motivational text messages. ^{1 6 7 8 9}

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

The FIT4Life trial is for individuals looking to increase their physical activity and make positive behavioral changes. Participants will use fitness trackers and receive motivational text messages over a period of 26 weeks.

Inclusion Criteria

Currently a Diabetes Prevention Program group or in a similar group that is recruited by the external community partner (Our Healthy Jackson County)

Exclusion Criteria

Does not meet the inclusion criteria listed above

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

1 week

Baseline

Participants undergo a baseline week to establish initial activity levels

1 week

Intervention

Participants receive text messages and use fitness trackers to support physical activity goals

26 weeks

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for changes in physical activity and program acceptability

1 week

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• FIT4Life Text Message Program

Trial Overview

This study tests whether receiving motivational text messages can help people become more physically active. It does not prescribe specific exercises but encourages overall increased activity, monitored with fitness trackers.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Low Arm Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Low arm participants will receive weekly messages related to reminders to wear their activity tracker and tips on how to use the tracker.

Group II: High Arm Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

High-arm participants will receive daily messages related to wear reminders, encouragements, congratulatory content, and behavior change based on the activity tracker data. Step counts from the activity tracker are included in some messages to track and facilitate step goals. Some text message content asks for a response from the participant to help tailor later messages for behavior change support.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas City

Lead Sponsor

Trials

261

Recruited

941,000+

Published Research Related to This Trial

Text messaging programs can effectively help individuals change health behaviors, leveraging automated and interactive messages to guide users through the behavior change process.

The authors provide a structured guide for developing these programs, emphasizing the importance of formative research, design, pretesting, and revision to ensure the program meets the needs of the target audience.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Developing and Pretesting a Text Messaging Program for Health Behavior Change: Recommended Steps. Abroms, LC., Whittaker, R., Free, C., et al.[2022]

Patients in cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation prefer SMS text messages that use gain-framed purposes and real images over loss-framed messages and cartoon images, indicating that positive and relatable content enhances engagement.

The study, which analyzed preferences from 54 respondents through a discrete choice experiment, suggests that visual messaging interventions could improve patient satisfaction and support lifestyle changes in rehabilitation programs.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Understanding Preferences for Lifestyle-Focused Visual Text Messages in Patients With Cardiovascular and Chronic Respiratory Disease: Discrete Choice Experiment. Choi, M., Raeside, R., Hyun, K., et al.[2021]

A total of 8 Spanish-speaking adults participated in a focus group to review and confirm the translation of motivational physical activity text messages, resulting in 22 new culturally appropriate messages added to the original database of 246.

The participants found the translated text messages meaningful and believed they could effectively motivate them to increase their walking, indicating the potential for these messages to improve physical activity among Hispanic adults.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Bilingual Text Messaging Translation: Translating Text Messages From English Into Spanish for the Text4Walking Program. Buchholz, SW., Sandi, G., Ingram, D., et al.[2023]

In the HealthyYou text (HYTxt) program, 43% of participants dropped out, with 65% of those leaving within the first two weeks, highlighting a significant early dropout issue.

Participants with higher levels of autonomous motivation were less likely to drop out early, suggesting that enhancing this type of motivation could improve retention and effectiveness of health behavior change programs.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Baseline Motivation Type as a Predictor of Dropout in a Healthy Eating Text Messaging Program. Coa, K., Patrick, H.[2018]

A systematic review of 13 studies found that SMS interventions showed some promise in improving physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior among youth, with 7 interventions improving physical activity and 6 improving sedentary behavior.

However, the studies varied widely in design and outcomes, leading to high risk of bias and making it difficult to determine which specific elements of the SMS interventions were most effective.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Text Messaging Interventions for Improvement in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Youth: Systematic Review. Ludwig, K., Arthur, R., Sculthorpe, N., et al.[2019]

A systematic review of 12 studies involving text messaging interventions for behavior change found that 8 out of 9 sufficiently powered studies supported its effectiveness in promoting health behavior changes over periods ranging from 3 to 12 months.

The review highlighted the need for more research in developing countries, as most studies were conducted in developed nations, despite the potential for text messaging to be a low-cost health intervention globally.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Text messaging as a tool for behavior change in disease prevention and management. Cole-Lewis, H., Kershaw, T.[2022]

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