title: Automated Technology Based Behavioural Intervention to Promote Exercise Adherence: A Pilot Study to Ascertain Efficacy

authors: Allen, Vincent Thor

subjects: Exercise adherence

abstract: Exercise has been shown to be an effective treatment for a range of physical and mental health problems. Development of automated exercise therapy options will result in greater accessibility of treatment for those who would be otherwise unable to access it. The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate an automated technology based behavioural intervention for the purpose of increasing the participant’s physical exercise adherence.
The study was run as a non-concurrent multiple baseline across participants design over a 12 week period. Nine participants (2 male, 7 female) aged 18 to 34 (M = 23.11) took part in the study. They completed a baseline phase of three to six weeks during which exercise data were recorded. The intervention phase lasted seven to eight weeks, during which an intervention was delivered via email and online survey in an attempt to increase physical exercise, and promote long term exercise adherence. Effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated using measures of duration and intensity of exercise activity, and an 18 item Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale.
For most participants there was a significant increase in exercise activity and exercise self-efficacy score as a result of the intervention. Component analysis of the intervention provided information as to which aspects were effective, and which may need to be modified for subsequent iterations. These results show that an automated technology based behavioural intervention can increase exercise behaviour in such a way that promotes long term adherence. Future studies could focus on using a smartphone app as the delivery method for similar interventions as this would allow for additional features to be added, and more effective delivery of the aspects of the intervention that have been shown to work.

text: Automated Technology Based Behavioural Intervention to Promote Exercise Adherence: A Pilot Study to Ascertain Efficacy Exercise has been shown to be an effective treatment for a range of physical and mental health problems. Development of automated exercise therapy options will result in greater accessibility of treatment for those who would be otherwise unable to access it. The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate an automated technology based behavioural intervention for the purpose of increasing the participant’s physical exercise adherence.
The study was run as a non-concurrent multiple baseline across participants design over a 12 week period. Nine participants (2 male, 7 female) aged 18 to 34 (M = 23.11) took part in the study. They completed a baseline phase of three to six weeks during which exercise data were recorded. The intervention phase lasted seven to eight weeks, during which an intervention was delivered via email and online survey in an attempt to increase physical exercise, and promote long term exercise adherence. Effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated using measures of duration and intensity of exercise activity, and an 18 item Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale.
For most participants there was a significant increase in exercise activity and exercise self-efficacy score as a result of the intervention. Component analysis of the intervention provided information as to which aspects were effective, and which may need to be modified for subsequent iterations. These results show that an automated technology based behavioural intervention can increase exercise behaviour in such a way that promotes long term adherence. Future studies could focus on using a smartphone app as the delivery method for similar interventions as this would allow for additional features to be added, and more effective delivery of the aspects of the intervention that have been shown to work.

year: 2015

title: Is the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire a reliable and valid measure to assess long-term symptoms in traumatic brain injury and orthopedic injury patients? A novel investigation using Rasch analysis

authors: Balalla, Shivanthi

subjects: brain injuries

abstract: Persistent post-concussion syndrome (PCS) symptoms are known to last years after traumatic brain injury (TBI), and similar symptoms are increasingly being documented among those who have not experienced a TBI. There remains however, a dearth of empirical evidence on the structural composition of symptoms beyond the postacute symptom phase after TBI, and little is known about the potential use of PCS symptom scales to measure PCS-like symptoms in non-TBI individuals. Our objective was therefore to examine the psychometric performance and dimensionality of the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ) as a measure of long-term PCS symptoms among a TBI and non-TBI sample. A case-control sample of 223 patients with injury, consisting of age- and sex-matched TBI participants (n = 109) and orthopedic participants (n = 114) were recruited from a regional trauma registry in New Zealand (NZ), and assessed at mean 2.5 years post-injury. Results from the Rasch analysis showed that the RPQ achieved fit to the Rasch model, demonstrating very good reliability (Person Separation Index [PSI] = 0.87), thereby indicating that the measure can be used reliably for individual and group assessment of symptoms among both TBI and orthopedic patients. In this study we demonstrated evidence of a unidimensional construct of PCS symptoms in both groups, which helps alleviate previous uncertainty about factor structure, and permits the calculation of a total RPQ score. Conversion of ordinal to interval total scores presented within are recommended for clinicians and researchers, to improve instrument precision, and to facilitate the interpretation of change scores and use of parametric methods in data analysis.

text: Is the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire a reliable and valid measure to assess long-term symptoms in traumatic brain injury and orthopedic injury patients? A novel investigation using Rasch analysis Persistent post-concussion syndrome (PCS) symptoms are known to last years after traumatic brain injury (TBI), and similar symptoms are increasingly being documented among those who have not experienced a TBI. There remains however, a dearth of empirical evidence on the structural composition of symptoms beyond the postacute symptom phase after TBI, and little is known about the potential use of PCS symptom scales to measure PCS-like symptoms in non-TBI individuals. Our objective was therefore to examine the psychometric performance and dimensionality of the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ) as a measure of long-term PCS symptoms among a TBI and non-TBI sample. A case-control sample of 223 patients with injury, consisting of age- and sex-matched TBI participants (n = 109) and orthopedic participants (n = 114) were recruited from a regional trauma registry in New Zealand (NZ), and assessed at mean 2.5 years post-injury. Results from the Rasch analysis showed that the RPQ achieved fit to the Rasch model, demonstrating very good reliability (Person Separation Index [PSI] = 0.87), thereby indicating that the measure can be used reliably for individual and group assessment of symptoms among both TBI and orthopedic patients. In this study we demonstrated evidence of a unidimensional construct of PCS symptoms in both groups, which helps alleviate previous uncertainty about factor structure, and permits the calculation of a total RPQ score. Conversion of ordinal to interval total scores presented within are recommended for clinicians and researchers, to improve instrument precision, and to facilitate the interpretation of change scores and use of parametric methods in data analysis.

year: 2020

title: Te Ahi Kā

authors: Temara, Pou

subjects: Ahi kā

abstract: Ko te urutaumatua o tēnei tuhinga, ko te matapaki i te ahi kā. He aha tēnei tikanga? I pēhea i ara ake ai? He aha ōna mātāpono, ōna taipitopito? Koia te tūāpapa mō te tuhinga nei. Tuarua, ko te wānanga i te tikanga Māori me ōna rerenga pērā i te whakapapa. Ko te pātai ka puta i tēnei wāhanga o te wānanga ko tēnei nā, he aha te wāhi o te whakapapa ki te ahi kā? Ko te ngako o tēnei tuhinga ko te wetewete i te tikanga ahi kā kia whai tikanga ai te whakataukī nei, ‘ko te ahi kā te mana o te hapū ki te whenua’.

text: Te Ahi Kā Ko te urutaumatua o tēnei tuhinga, ko te matapaki i te ahi kā. He aha tēnei tikanga? I pēhea i ara ake ai? He aha ōna mātāpono, ōna taipitopito? Koia te tūāpapa mō te tuhinga nei. Tuarua, ko te wānanga i te tikanga Māori me ōna rerenga pērā i te whakapapa. Ko te pātai ka puta i tēnei wāhanga o te wānanga ko tēnei nā, he aha te wāhi o te whakapapa ki te ahi kā? Ko te ngako o tēnei tuhinga ko te wetewete i te tikanga ahi kā kia whai tikanga ai te whakataukī nei, ‘ko te ahi kā te mana o te hapū ki te whenua’.

year: 2012-05