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

250 Participants Needed

Trial Summary

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 data supports the effectiveness of the FIT4Life Text Message Program treatment?

Research shows that text messaging programs can help people change health behaviors, including increasing physical activity. A study found that supportive text messages significantly increased physical activity in people with prediabetes at 8 weeks, suggesting that similar programs like FIT4Life could be effective. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Is the FIT4Life Text Message Program safe for humans?

There is no specific safety data available for the FIT4Life Text Message Program, but text messaging programs in general are considered safe as they primarily involve sending motivational messages to encourage behavior change. ^{1 3 6 7 8}

How does the FIT4Life Text Message Program treatment differ from other treatments for increasing physical activity?

The FIT4Life Text Message Program is unique because it uses text messages to encourage physical activity, leveraging the widespread use of mobile phones to deliver health messages. This approach is different from traditional methods as it provides ongoing, personalized support and motivation directly to individuals, making it more accessible and engaging. ^{1 6 8 9 10}

What is the purpose of this trial?

FIT4Life is a text message based physical activity project that includes one baseline week and 26 weeks of intervention delivery. Study participants will be provided with fitness trackers to support their physical activity goals. The text messages are intended to motivate participants to engage in physical activity throughout the week, but do not prescribe specific exercises/workout regimens for participants to follow.

Eligibility Criteria

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

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

Treatment Details

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.

Participant Groups

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+

Findings from Research

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]

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]

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 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]

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]

References

1. Canada pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Developing and Pretesting a Text Messaging Program for Health Behavior Change: Recommended Steps. [2022]

2. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Text4Diet: a randomized controlled study using text messaging for weight loss behaviors. [2022]

3. Canada pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Text Messaging Interventions for Improvement in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Youth: Systematic Review. [2019]

4. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The Effects of Text Messages for Promoting Physical Activities in Prediabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial. [2022]

5. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Text messaging as a tool for behavior change in disease prevention and management. [2022]

6. England pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

A healthy lifestyle text message intervention for adolescents: protocol for the Health4Me randomized controlled trial. [2022]

7. Canada pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Baseline Motivation Type as a Predictor of Dropout in a Healthy Eating Text Messaging Program. [2018]

8. Canada pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Bilingual Text Messaging Translation: Translating Text Messages From English Into Spanish for the Text4Walking Program. [2023]

9. Canada pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Understanding Preferences for Lifestyle-Focused Visual Text Messages in Patients With Cardiovascular and Chronic Respiratory Disease: Discrete Choice Experiment. [2021]

10. Canada pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Effectiveness of 6 months of tailored text message reminders for obese male participants in a worksite weight loss program: randomized controlled trial. [2022]