Tweet4Wellness: An Online Virtual Support Group for Promoting Increased Physical Activity

NCT ID: NCT02958189

Last Updated: 2020-04-10

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 45 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2019-06-20
• Study Completion Date: 2019-12-20

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a Twitter-based intervention with a private, online support group can significantly increase number of walking steps compared to self-monitoring of physical activity alone or a control group in sedentary women at a women's heart clinic.

Detailed Description

Sedentary behavior is a risk factor for heart disease, independent of meeting physical activity guidelines. Tweet4Wellness is an innovative light physical activity, specifically walking, intervention which randomly assigns participants to a 25-person private, online support group that will receive daily, theory-based messages as peer-to-peer discussion prompts. Many text-based interventions do not base the intervention text messages in behavior change theory, but this study will base the daily messages in the behavior change theories such as implementation intentions, social support, mindfulness, and social learning theory.

The trial will be conducted over a 6-month periods. For the first 3 months, there will be 2 groups: Group 1 will receive the Twitter intervention and a "Fitbit" triaxial pedometer to track their steps throughout the day; Group 2 will receive the Fitbit pedometer only.

For the second 3 months: Group 1 an Group 2 will track their physical activity with Fitbit only.

Conditions

Physical Activity; Social Media

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Group 1: Tweet4Wellness+Self-monitoring

This group will receive the Tweet4Wellness intervention: daily theory-based peer-to-peer discussion prompt within the private Twitter-based support group for the entire 6 months of the study. They will also receive the Fitbit triaxial pedometer that will track their daily steps (self-monitoring component).

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Tweet4Wellness

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

A daily, behavior change theory-based intervention message is sent to a private, 25-person online Twitter-support group to prompt peer-to-peer discussion. Participants receive individual text messages to encourage group participation (e.g. 'thank you for participating' or 'please participate tomorrow'). Participants also receive weekly individual messages giving them daily step goals for the week based on their previous week's daily step average, recorded from Fitbit.

Self-monitoring

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

A Fitbit is provided to the group which tracks participants' daily steps.

Group 2: Self-monitoring

This group will receive the Fitbit triaxial pedometer that will track their daily steps (self-monitoring component) for the first 3 months. For the second three months of the study, they will receive the Tweet4Wellness intervention in addition to their Fitbit self-monitoring.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Self-monitoring

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

A Fitbit is provided to the group which tracks participants' daily steps.

Interventions

Tweet4Wellness

A daily, behavior change theory-based intervention message is sent to a private, 25-person online Twitter-support group to prompt peer-to-peer discussion. Participants receive individual text messages to encourage group participation (e.g. 'thank you for participating' or 'please participate tomorrow'). Participants also receive weekly individual messages giving them daily step goals for the week based on their previous week's daily step average, recorded from Fitbit.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Self-monitoring

A Fitbit is provided to the group which tracks participants' daily steps.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Are a woman
• Are over 18 years of age
• Are English speaking
• Have or are willing to purchase a mobile phone with a camera
• Have or are willing to purchase an unlimited text plan
• Are willing to participate in daily tweets or texts for up to 3 months
• Have an active email account
• Have internet access on your mobile phone
• Use or are familiar with Facebook, Twitter, or other social media
• Text at least weekly

Exclusion Criteria

• Have certain symptoms or conditions that would not be conducive to increasing your physical activity as determined by your physician
• Are planning on becoming pregnant in the next 8 months
• If our screening survey indicates that you are already adequately physically active
• Do not provide all required personal contact information

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: FEMALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Stanford University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Judith Prochaska

Associate Professor of Medicine

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Judith Prochaska, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Stanford University

Locations

Stanford University School of Medicine

Stanford, California, United States

Countries

United States

References

Oppezzo M, Tremmel J, Desai M, Baiocchi M, Ramo D, Cullen M, Prochaska JJ. Twitter-Based Social Support Added to Fitbit Self-Monitoring for Decreasing Sedentary Behavior: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial With Female Patients From a Women's Heart Clinic. JMIR Res Protoc. 2020 Dec 4;9(12):e20926. doi: 10.2196/20926.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 33275104 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

32127

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id