Personalized Resistance Exercise With Peer Support for Women With PCOS Using a Smart Home Video Device: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Guided by Self‐Determination Theory

Background Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) report exercise barriers as stigma‐related stress, lack of peer support, and facility issues. “Resistance exercise (RE) with peer support and bands/ball and digitally‐based supervision” (REPS w/BANDS) was designed to help mitigate exercise barriers. Underscored by self‐determination theory (SDT), the 12‐week intervention was remotely delivered via digital technology and inclusive of peer support. Purpose The purposes of this pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) were to test the feasibility and acceptability of REPS w/BANDS and explore signals of within‐ and between‐group differences on outcomes (e.g., depressive symptoms and fitness). Methods Participants ( N = 25) were adult women with a confirmed diagnosis of PCOS. Participants were recruited using ResearchMatch and randomized into the intervention group (IG; n = 12), which received biweekly supervised RE training and individual‐ and group‐level peer support, or the control group (CG; n = 13), which received weekly PCOS‐specific educational modules via email. Results Participants were 37.28 (±10.12) years, mostly White (64%), employed full‐time (72%), and married (56%). Participants had a body mass index (BMI) of 33.76 kg/m 2 (±10.39), at least one comorbidity, and poor muscular endurance as compared to normative data for age. Feasibility was 86% for recruitment (eligible potential participants), the IG attended 78% of 288 total sessions, and retention in the IG and CG were 92% and 85%, respectively. The overall acceptability rating was 4.21(±0.50) on a 5.00 scale for the IG and 4.05 (±0.83) for the CG with 4.00 equating good acceptability. While the RCT was not adequately powered, the comparison of means and percent changes for pre–post measures of the IG revealed statistically significant improvements. Conclusion REPS w/BANDS was feasible and acceptable to participants. The next step is a fully powered RCT to evaluate within‐ and between‐group differences in outcomes. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT06629883