RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) Evaluation of the Use of Activity Trackers in the Clinical Care of Adults Diagnosed With a Chronic Disease: Integrative Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Chronic diseases are a leading cause of adult mortality, accounting for 41 million deaths globally each year. Low levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior are major risk factors for adults to develop a chronic disease. Physical activity interventions can help support patients in clinical care to be more active. Commercial activity trackers that can measure daily steps, physical activity intensity, sedentary behavior, and distance moved are being more frequently used within health-related interventions. The RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) framework is a planning and evaluation approach to explore the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance of interventions. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to conduct an integrative systematic review and report the 5 main RE-AIM dimensions in interventions that used activity trackers in clinical care to improve physical activity or reduce sedentary behavior in adults diagnosed with chronic diseases. METHODS: A search strategy and study protocol were developed and registered on the PROSPERO platform. Inclusion criteria included adults (18 years and older) diagnosed with a chronic disease and have used an activity tracker within their clinical care. Searches of 10 databases and gray literature were conducted, and qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies were included. Screening was undertaken by more than 1 researcher to reduce the risk of bias. After screening, the final studies were analyzed using a RE-AIM framework data extraction evaluation tool. This tool assisted in identifying the 28 RE-AIM indicators within the studies and linked them to the 5 main RE-AIM dimensions. RESULTS: The initial search identified 4585 potential studies. After a title and abstract review followed by full-text screening, 15 studies were identified for data extraction. The analysis of the extracted data found that the RE-AIM dimensions of adoption (n=1, 7% of studies) and maintenance (n=2, 13% of studies) were underreported. The use of qualitative thematic analysis to understand the individual RE-AIM dimensions was also underreported and only used in 3 of the studies. Two studies used qualitative analysis to explore the effectiveness of the project, while 1 study used thematic analysis to understand the implementation of an intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is required in the use of activity trackers to support patients to lead a more active lifestyle. Such studies should consider using the RE-AIM framework at the planning stage with a greater focus on the dimensions of adoption and maintenance and using qualitative methods to understand the main RE-AIM dimensions within their design. These results should form the basis for establishing long-term interventions in clinical care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42022319635; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=319635.

24-Hour Movement Behaviours (Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep) Association with Glycaemic Control and Psychosocial Outcomes in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes: A Systematic Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Studies.

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is a condition requiring 24-hour management. The way in which an individual combines their 24-hour movement behaviours (24-h MBs), which is comprised of physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB), and sleep, throughout the day can have a significant impact on physical and mental health. This mixed methods systematic review aimed to investigate 24-h MBs' relationship with glycaemic control and psychosocial outcomes in adolescents (11-18 years) with T1D. Ten databases were searched for quantitative and qualitative English language articles reporting at least one of the behaviours and their relationship with outcomes. There were no restrictions on article publication dates or study design. Articles were subjected to title and abstract screening, full text screening, data extraction and quality assessment. Data were summarised narratively, and a meta-analysis was conducted where possible. From 9922 studies, 84 were included for data extraction (quantitative (n = 76), qualitative (n = 8)). Meta-analyses revealed a significant favourable association between PA and HbA1c (-0.22 [95% CI: -0.35, -0.08; I2 = 92.7%; p = 0.001). SB had an insignificant unfavourable association with HbA1c (0.12 [95% CI: -0.06, 0.28; I2 = 86.1%; p = 0.07]) and sleep had an insignificant favourable association (-0.03 [95% CI: -0.21, 0.15; I2 = 65.9%; p = 0.34]). Importantly, no study investigated how combinations of behaviours collectively interacted and impacted on outcomes.

Supporting Physical Activity for Informal Caregivers during and beyond COVID-19: Exploring the Feasibility, Usability and Acceptability of a Digital Health Smartphone Application, 'CareFit'.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how our global societies rely upon the care and support of informal (unpaid) caregivers: in the UK alone, there are an estimated 6.5 million informal carers. The caring role is not just precarious, it is often associated with high levels of stress, poor/deteriorating health and crisis points (hospitalisations, worsening of health). Fittingly, there has been much research in recent years focusing on mental health supports. A lesser explored area is physical health and physical activity. To address this, we conducted a real-world feasibility, usability and acceptability study of a novel codesigned digital health app for caregivers to improve levels of physical activity. Our study was designed to test the prototype app use for three weeks, following participants across questionnaires/in app data/qualitative data. Our findings (from 27 caregivers) highlights key knowledge gaps around physical activity-national guidelines were not reaching populations studies and behavioural change techniques hold promise to help support caregivers in the longer term. Our collective results support the acceptability, usability and feasibility of the Carefit app and warrant further investigation.

Exploring the Use of Fitbit Consumer Activity Trackers to Support Active Lifestyles in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: A Mixed-Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: People with type 2 diabetes are less active than those without the condition. Physical activity promotion within diabetes health care is limited. This project explored the use of Fitbit activity trackers (Fitbit, San Francisco, CA, USA) to support active lifestyles in adults with type 2 diabetes through a mixed-methods study. METHODS: Two stages were conducted. In stage 1, adults with type 2 diabetes used a Fitbit Charge 4 (Fitbit, San Francisco, CA, USA) for 4 weeks. Fitbit and self-reported physical activity data was examined through quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis was conducted to explore the experiences of participants. In stage 2, health professionals were interviewed to examine their views on using Fitbit activity trackers within type 2 diabetes care. RESULTS: Adults with type 2 diabetes were recruited for stage 1 and adult health care and fitness professionals were recruited for stage 2. Stage 1 participants' self-reported increases in physical activity (mean weekly minutes of walking increased from 358.75 to 507.50 min, p = 0.046) and a decrease in sedentary behaviour (mean daily hours of sedentary behaviour decreased from 10.65 to 10.05 h, p = 0.575). Fitbit activity data ranges identified individuals who led inactive and sedentary lifestyles below levels recommended and in need of physical activity support to reduce the risk to their health. During interviews, participants stated that the Fitbit activity tracker motivated them to be more active. Stage 2 participants intimated that Fitbit activity trackers could improve the promotion of physical activity within type 2 diabetes care. Interventions involving the Fitbit premium service, community prescription and combined use of Fitbits with physical activity behaviour change models were recommended by stage 2 participants. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that there is future scope for using Fitbit activity trackers to support active lifestyles in adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

A Novel Mobile App ("CareFit") to Support Informal Caregivers to Undertake Regular Physical Activity From Home During and Beyond COVID-19 Restrictions: Co-design and Prototype Development Study.

BACKGROUND: Informal caregivers, or carers (unpaid family members and friends), are instrumental to millions worldwide for the ongoing delivery of health and well-being needs. The risk of crisis points (eg, hospitalizations) for caregivers increases with the absence of physical activity. The COVID-19 pandemic is highly likely to have increased the risk of crisis points for caregivers by increasing the amount of time spent indoors due to shielding and lockdown restrictions. Thus, accessible evidence-based tools to facilitate physical activity for caregivers indoors are urgently needed. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to co-design and develop a novel mobile app to educate and support carers in the undertaking of regular physical activity at home during and beyond COVID-19 restrictions via integration of the transtheoretical model of behavior change and UK physical activity guidelines. METHODS: We co-designed a mobile app, "CareFit," by directly involving caregivers, health care professionals, and social care professionals in the requirements, capturing, and evaluation phases of three Agile Scrum design and development sprints. Seven participants representing multistakeholder views took part in three co-design sessions, each of which was followed by a development sprint. Requirements for CareFit were grounded in a combination of behavioral change science and UK government guidelines for physical activity. RESULTS: Participants identified different barriers and enablers to physical activity, such as a lack of time, recognition of existing activities, and concerns regarding safely undertaking physical activity. Requirements analysis highlighted the importance of simplicity in design and a need to anchor development around the everyday needs of caregivers (eg, easy-to-use video instructions). Our final prototype app integrated guidance for undertaking physical activity at home through educational, physical activity, and communication components. CONCLUSIONS: Integrating government guidelines with models of behavioral change into a mobile app to support the physical activity of carers is novel. We found that integrating core physical activity guidelines into a co-designed smartphone app with functionality such as a weekly planner and educational material for users is feasible. This work holds promise to fill the gap of effective physical activity solutions for caregivers both during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Further work is now needed to explore the feasibility, acceptability, and usability of the approach in real-world settings.