Interventions for increasing physical activity: From “ingenious toys” to mHealth

STSI faculty discuss pedometers and the future of mHealth

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Image credit: Brett Lohmeyer/Flickr

The health benefits of regular physical activity have been proven in study after study. From the prevention of cardiovascular disease to weight management and the subsequent reduction in risk of diabetes, hypertension, and even depression, exercise plays a vital role in disease prevention.

Device manufacturers and app developers have picked up on this. Consumers have thousands of mobile health (mHealth) devices and apps to choose from, all aimed at enabling them to monitor activity and progress, and to remain motivated to exercise. However, while the short-term gains of using mHealth technologies have been well documented, the next challenge is to demonstrate that this approach can achieve sustained, long-term changes in physical activity, and subsequently lead to improved health and better quality of life.

In the latest issue of the Journal of American College of Cardiology (JACC), the Director of Digital Medicine at the Scripps Translational Science Institute, Dr. Steven Steinhubl, and cardiologist and assistant professor, Dr. Evan Muse, comment on the results of the recent Stepathlon Cardiovascular Health Study. The study, conducted by Ganesan et al., provided nearly 70,000 participants in multiple countries with a low-cost pedometer, and access to an interactive smartphone or web-based app as part of a workplace physical-activity and wellness program. Study participants were required to self-report data including steps-taken, time-spent sitting and weight during a 100-day Stepathlon event.

While Muse and Steinhubl commend the investigators for having successfully applied a low-cost method of activity tracking to a large, multi-national cohort, they contend that several questions remain. Most notably perhaps whether, as already mentioned, this method can achieve sustained, long-term adherence to exercise that is needed to improve health and quality of life overall. The authors also question whether the Stepathlon program and the use of a non-interactive pedometer are truly representative of a 21st century mHealth intervention. The true power of mHealth is in its promise to individualize and democratize health by providing personalized interventions, and doing so non-obtrusively without interference to a person’s daily routines. While the Stepathlon study is an important benchmark for what can be achieved through a well-designed, workplace-based wellness program, Muse and Steinhubl argue that the expanding era of digital health provides for more opportunities to create unique interventions for each unique individual than are currently being studied or implemented.

Read the full Editorial Comment in JACC.