The efficacy of online physical activity interventions with added mobile elements within adults aged 50 years and over: Randomized controlled trial

Electronic health (eHealth) and mobile health (mHealth) could stimulate physical activity (PA) in a time-efficient and cost-effective way. This randomized controlled trial aims to investigate effects on moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) of different combined computer- and mobile-based PA interventions targeted at adults aged 50 years and over. Participants (N = 954) were randomly allocated to a basic existing computer-based intervention (Active Plus [AP] or I Move [IM]) supplemented with one of three mobile elements being (1) activity tracker (AT), (2) ecological momentary intervention (EMI), or (3) chatbot (CB) or a control group (CG). MVPA was assessed via the SQUASH at baseline (T0), 3 months (T1), and 6 months (T2) and via accelerometers at T0 and T2. No intervention effects were found on objective (p = .502) and subjective (p = .368) MVPA for main research groups (AP/IM + AT, AP/IM + EMI, AP/IM + CB). Preliminary MVPA findings for subgroups (AP + AT, AP + EMI, AP + CB, IM + AT, IM + EMI, IM + CB) combined with drop-out data showed potential for the computer-based intervention AP with an integrated AT. Based on these preliminary findings, eHealth developers can be recommended to integrate ATs with existing computer-based PA interventions. However, further research is recommended to confirm the findings as a result of the exploratory nature of the subgroup analyses.