The StepSmart Project: A Pedometer Based Phased Intervention to Encourage Physical Activity in Schools

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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A school based pedometer competition among Year 9 pupils (12 - 14 years old) to promote physical activity (PA).

Detailed Description
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The intervention is separated into three main phases. Phase One: A 10-week school competition using pedometers and a range of non-financial incentives e.g. t-shirts, pens, badges etc. (April - June 2015). Phase Two: End of school competition but participants will still keep the pedometers. We will set them various challenges over the summer to keep active (July - Oct 2015). Phase Three: Removal of all extrinsically motivation factors. Focus on PA maintenance.

Official Title
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A Randomised Controlled Trial of a Pedometer Based Phased Intervention to Encourage Physical Activity in Schools: A Feasibility Study.

Conditions
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Physical Activity, Health Behavior, Competitive Behavior, Incentives

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: The StepSmart Challenge


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria aged 12-14 years enrolled in participating school Exclusion Criteria Unable to give informed consent Presence of an underlying medical conditions Already enrolled in a physical activity intervention

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 12 Years
Maximum Age: 14 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Intervention<br>The intervention group includes 150 participants aged 12-14 across three schools. Each participant has been given a Fitbit Zip pedometer to wear for a six month period and enrolled on the StepSmart challenge. Participants within the intervention group will take part in two competitions during this period. School and team based competition. 27/05/15 - 22/06/15 (8 weeks) Individually focused competition. 22/06/15 - 26/10/15 (18 weeks) Prizes of low monetary value will be given to participants based on competition performance | Behavioral: The StepSmart Challenge<br>* A six month pedometer based intervention designed to increase Physical Activity in school children<br>|
| No Intervention: Control<br>The control group for the study involves approximately 90 participants aged 12 - 14. across two schools. Participants within the control group will complete the same measures as the intervention group including wearing an actigraph GT3X accelerometer for a seven day period and completing all questionnaires at the same time points as the intervention group. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change from baseline in physical activity as assessed by Actigraph accelerometer | Actigraph accelerometer counts per minute and minutes of moderate and vigorous physical activity | Baseline, 6 months and 1 year | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in mental wellbeing measured by the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale | Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale is a validated, self-report instrument assessing mental wellbeing. Possible scores range from range from 14-70, with higher scores indicating higher mental well-being | Baseline, 6 months and 1 year | 
| Change in social support for physical activity measured by the social support for physical activity scale | Social support for physical activity scale is a validated 5-item scale. Social support is measured as tghe sum of responses to four sub-scales including parental social support (3 items), parental encouragement (2 items), peer support (3 items), and teacher support (3 items). Each question is answered with a 4-point response format ranging from 1 (hardly ever or never) to 4 (every day). | Baseline, 6 months and 1 year | 
| Change in future orientation and impulsivity measured using 8-item time preference scale | A previously validated 8-item time preference scale is included. Responses are summed to obtain a a future orientation and impulsivity score. High scores reflect future time orientation and greater impulsivity in decision making. | Baseline, 6 months and 1 year |