Clinical trial NCT02360293: Stay Strong: A Physical Activity Program for Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans
Official title: Stay Strong: A Physical Activity Program for Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Exercise
Keywords: Exercise
App-mediated
Veterans
Lead sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development
Sponsor class: FED
First posted: 2015-02-10
Enrollment: 465
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 64
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: This project is Project three of a four project Prevention Coaching Lab CREATE grant entitled "Transforming Prevention into Action" aimed at effectively engaging patients and their families to improve their health and medical care.

This project will test the feasibility and effectiveness of the prevention focused, internet mediated healthy lifestyle Stay Strong program tailored to the needs, preferences and demographics of OEF/OIF/OND Veterans.

Detailed description: Veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq (OEF/OIF/OND) are at high risk for becoming overweight and obese. However, existing VA programs are not designed for younger Veterans who are comfortable with technology-mediated interventions, may not yet have developed obesity-related illnesses, and contain a relatively high percentage of women compared to previous Veteran cohorts. Technology-mediated lifestyle interventions that include continuous, objective home monitoring of physical activity, automated internet mediated feedback, and e-coaching increase physical activity and improve weight loss in non-Veteran populations. When delivered on a large scale, such interventions represent low cost but effective alternatives to face-to-face lifestyle change interventions that can be implemented widely in the VA health care system. Thus, this project will test the feasibility and effectiveness of the prevention focused, internet-mediated healthy lifestyle physical activity program, Stay Strong w/coaching, tailored to the needs, preferences and demographics of OEF/OIF/OND Veterans. Specifically, Stay Strong w/coaching relies on use of a wearable device, the Fitbit Charge 2, and incorporates coaching support, tailored messages, and personalized physical activity goals. Stay Strong w/coaching will be compared to the use of the Fitbit Charge 2 with standard online support (Stay Strong).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. OEF/OIF/OND Veteran
2. Can identify a VA Medical Center and VA Health Care Provider responsible for his/her care in the system
3. Interested in starting a physical activity program in the next 30 days
4. Access to a computer with an internet connection and a working USB port.
5. A smartphone running a compatible iOS or Android operating system.
6. Younger than Age 65

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Veteran self-reports that a health care provider has told the patient that it is currently unsafe to exercise in an unsupervised or unmonitored setting. (Can become eligible with written medical clearance).
2. History of eating disorders or a BMI \< 20
3. Not competent to consent to a research study by self-reporting a legal guardian who makes medical decisions for the Veteran.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Physical Activity (PA) as Measured by the Study-provided Monitoring Device
timeFrame: Change from Baseline in objectively monitored physical activity at one year after randomization
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in Weight as Measured From VA Medical Record
timeFrame: Change from Baseline in weight at one year after randomization
measure: Change in Depression Score as Assessed by the Personal Health Questionnaire Depression Scale (PHQ-8)
timeFrame: Change from Baseline Depression score at one year after randomization
measure: Change in Pain Measures as Assessed by the VA Pain Intensity
timeFrame: Change from Baseline in Pain measures at one year after randomization
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Ann Arbor
country: United States
facility: VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI
state: Michigan
Study officials:
affiliation: VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI
name: Laura J. Damschroder, MPH
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Buis LR, McCant FA, Gierisch JM, Bastian LA, Oddone EZ, Richardson CR, Kim HM, Evans R, Hooks G, Kadri R, White-Clark C, Damschroder LJ. Understanding the Effect of Adding Automated and Human Coaching to a Mobile Health Physical Activity App for Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of the Stay Strong Intervention. JMIR Res Protoc. 2019 Jan 29;8(1):e12526. doi: 10.2196/12526.
citation: Olsen MK, Stechuchak KM, Hung A, Oddone EZ, Damschroder LJ, Edelman D, Maciejewski ML. A data-driven examination of which patients follow trial protocol. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2020 Aug 13;19:100631. doi: 10.1016/j.conctc.2020.100631. eCollection 2020 Sep.
citation: Damschroder LJ, Buis LR, McCant FA, Kim HM, Evans R, Oddone EZ, Bastian LA, Hooks G, Kadri R, White-Clark C, Richardson CR, Gierisch JM. Effect of Adding Telephone-Based Brief Coaching to an mHealth App (Stay Strong) for Promoting Physical Activity Among Veterans: Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Internet Res. 2020 Aug 4;22(8):e19216. doi: 10.2196/19216.
citation: Buis LR, Dawood K, Kadri R, Dawood R, Richardson CR, Djuric Z, Sen A, Plegue M, Hutton D, Brody A, McNaughton CD, Brook RD, Levy P. Improving Blood Pressure Among African Americans With Hypertension Using a Mobile Health Approach (the MI-BP App): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2019 Jan 25;8(1):e12601. doi: 10.2196/12601.