Randomised Controlled Feasibility Study of the MyHealthAvatar-Diabetes Smartphone App for Reducing Prolonged Sitting Time in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Daniel P. Bailey, Lucie H. Mugridge, Feng Dong, Xu Zhang and Angel M. Chater
Additional contact information
Daniel P. Bailey: Division of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences, Department of Life Sciences, Brunel University London, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK
Lucie H. Mugridge: Institute for Sport and Physical Activity Research, School of Sport Science and Physical Activity, University of Bedfordshire, Polhill Avenue, Bedford MK41 9EA, UK
Feng Dong: Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XH, UK
Xu Zhang: Institute for Research in Applicable Computing, University of Bedfordshire, Luton LU1 3JU, UK
Angel M. Chater: Institute for Sport and Physical Activity Research, School of Sport Science and Physical Activity, University of Bedfordshire, Polhill Avenue, Bedford MK41 9EA, UK

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: This study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of a self-regulation smartphone app for reducing prolonged sitting in people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This was a two-arm, randomised, controlled feasibility trial. The intervention group used the MyHealthAvatar-Diabetes smartphone app for 8 weeks. The app uses a number of behaviour change techniques aimed at reducing and breaking up sitting time. Eligibility, recruitment, retention, and completion rates for the outcomes (sitting, standing, stepping, and health-related measures) assessed trial feasibility. Interviews with participants explored intervention acceptability. Participants with T2DM were randomised to the control ( n = 10) and intervention groups ( n = 10). Recruitment and retention rates were 71% and 90%, respectively. The remaining participants provided 100% of data for the study measures. The MyHealthAvatar-Diabetes app was viewed as acceptable for reducing and breaking up sitting time. There were preliminary improvements in the number of breaks in sitting per day, body fat %, glucose tolerance, attitude, intention, planning, wellbeing, and positive and negative affect in favour of the intervention group. In conclusion, the findings indicate that it would be feasible to deliver and evaluate the efficacy of the MyHealthAvatar-Diabetes app for breaking up sitting time and improving health outcomes in a full trial.

Keywords: sedentary behaviour; glucose; health apps; behaviour change; theory of planned behaviour; health coaching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4414/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4414/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:12:p:4414-:d:373775

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().