Key result
Activity trackers with professional support fail to improve daily step counts versus usual care.
Why the study?
Ongoing support is needed to maintain physical activity improvements in older adults, and wearable activity trackers may offer an alternative method to provide this support.
Does the use of an activity tracker with health professional support or telephone counseling maintain daily step counts in older adults who recently completed an exercise program?
RCT (n=117)
randomized
No
Does the use of an activity tracker with health professional support or telephone counseling maintain daily step counts in older adults who recently completed an exercise program?
Mean Difference: -588 (95% CI -1359–182)
p-value: p=0.09
Wearable activity trackers with professional support or telephone counseling effectively maintain physical activity levels in older adults over 12 months, preventing the decline seen with usual care.
Activity trackers and telephone counseling maintain step counts and lean mass over 12 months in older adults; extends short-term evidence to long-term maintenance.
BACKGROUND Despite a range of efforts to increase physical activity participation in Australia, inactivity levels in older adults have remained high over recent decades, contributing to increased rates of chronic health conditions. Lifestyle interventions, including telephone counseling (TC), improve physical activity participation and associated health outcomes over the short term; however, ongoing feedback and support is required to maintain these changes. Newer technologies such as wearable activity trackers (ATs) may offer an alternative method for providing ongoing support. OBJECTIVE This study aims to investigate whether newer technologies such as wearable ATs assist in providing ongoing support to maintain physical activity levels and health outcomes. METHODS Older adults aged >60 years who had just completed a 12-week face-to-face individualized community exercise program in Tasmania, Australia, participated in the study. They were randomized to receive AT, TC, or usual care (UC). All groups received a home exercise program and an optional referral to a community-based exercise program. The AT group also received an AT and text message feedback from an accredited exercise physiologist (AEP). The TC group received phone calls from an AEP throughout the 12-month intervention. The primary outcome was daily steps measured by an ActivPAL (TM) accelerometer at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months. Secondary outcome measures included body composition, blood pressure, 10-time sit-to-stand (TTSTS) test, timed up and go test, and cardiorespiratory fitness. This trial was approved by the Tasmanian Health and Medical Human Research Ethics Committee (H0014713). RESULTS A total of 117 participants were randomized to the study (AT, n=37; TC, n=38; UC, n=42). At baseline, the participants (75/117, 64.1% female; mean age 72.4 years, SD 6.4) completed an average of 6136 steps (SD 2985) per day. Although there were no significant differences between groups, the TC and AT groups maintained daily step counts (mean difference [MD] −79 steps, 95% CI −823 to 663 steps; P=.81; and MD −588 steps, 95% CI −1359 to 182 steps; P=.09), and UC showed a reduction in daily steps (MD 981 steps, 95% CI −1668 to −294 steps; P=.003) during the 12-month period. Diastolic blood pressure was significantly higher after AT than after UC (MD 5.62 mm Hg, 95% CI 1.30 to 9.94 mm Hg; P=.01), and TTSTS was significantly slower on TC compared with UC (MD 2.36 seconds, 95% CI −0.14 to 4.87 seconds; P=.03). CONCLUSIONS The use of an AT with AEP support or TC is effective at maintaining daily step count in older adults over a 12-month period, suggesting that wearable ATs are as effective as TC. Further research to investigate which option is more cost-effective would be beneficial. CLINICALTRIAL Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN12615001104549; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=369118
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Brickwood et al. (2020) conducted an RCT in physical inactivity (n=117). Activity tracker with health professional support or telephone counseling vs. Usual care was evaluated on daily steps measured by an ActivPAL accelerometer at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months (MD -588, 95% CI -1359 to 182, p=0.09). Activity trackers with professional support maintained daily step counts over 12 months (MD -588 steps; 95% CI -1359 to 182; P=.09), with no significant differences between groups.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: