Department of Radiation Oncology,, Duke Cancer Institute, DUMC Box 3085, NC, 27710, Durham, USA.
Arnhold Institute for Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY, New York, USA.
Support Care Cancer. 2021 Dec;29(12):7339-7349. doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06281-y. Epub 2021 May 28.
Cancer survivors are often sedentary. Self-monitoring may promote physical activity through self-activation. We conducted a pilot trial to evaluate whether wearable activity tracker with personalized text message feedback would increase physical activity.
We enrolled 30 patients with solid tumor cancers into a non-randomized prospective intervention trial (NCT02627079): 15 had completed treatment in the past year and 15 under active treatment. Each participant received an activity tracker and daily text messages personalized to their activity level. We assessed patient-reported outcomes and 6-min walk (6 MW) at baseline and 3 months.
Twenty-six participants completed the study. There was substantial variation in baseline activity. Overall, 39% of participants increased their steps taken by at least 20%, and 23% increased their 6 MW distance by 20% or more. More participants who had completed treatment strongly agreed (73%) that the intervention increased their exercise levels than those receiving active treatment (47%). At 3 months, there was a significant improvement in median Beck Depression Inventory-II and Godin Leisure Index composite scores. At 6 months, 72% still wore their activity tracker at least 4 days per week.
We found that the intervention was well-accepted with a high completion rate at 3 months and continued self-use at 6 months. In this pilot study of combined activity tracker and motivational messaging, we found a signal for increased physical activity over a 3-month period. Future research is needed to study this technique for its impact on activity and other physical and psychological measures of well-being.
Activity tracker with personalized motivational messaging may be useful in promoting physical activity in cancer survivors.
癌症幸存者通常久坐不动。自我监测可以通过自我激活来促进身体活动。我们进行了一项试点试验，以评估带有个性化短信反馈的可穿戴活动追踪器是否会增加身体活动。
我们招募了 30 名患有实体瘤癌症的患者参加非随机前瞻性干预试验（NCT02627079）：15 名患者在过去一年中完成了治疗，15 名患者正在接受积极治疗。每位参与者都收到了一个活动追踪器和根据其活动水平定制的每日短信。我们在基线和 3 个月时评估了患者报告的结果和 6 分钟步行（6MW）。
26 名参与者完成了研究。基线活动有很大差异。总体而言，39%的参与者增加了至少 20%的步数，23%的参与者增加了 6MW 距离 20%或更多。与正在接受积极治疗的参与者（47%）相比，更多完成治疗的参与者强烈同意（73%）干预措施提高了他们的锻炼水平。在 3 个月时，贝克抑郁量表第二版和戈丁休闲指数综合评分中位数均显著改善。6 个月时，72%的参与者仍至少每周佩戴活动追踪器 4 天。
我们发现，该干预措施在 3 个月时接受度很高，完成率很高，并且在 6 个月时仍继续自我使用。在这项结合活动追踪器和激励信息的试点研究中，我们发现了在 3 个月内增加身体活动的信号。需要进一步的研究来研究这种技术对活动和其他身体和心理健康措施的影响。
带有个性化激励信息的活动追踪器可能有助于促进癌症幸存者的身体活动。
