Trial reportBMC public health2016
Effectiveness of a smartphone app in increasing physical activity amongst male adults: a randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMC public health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Mobile health technologies to improve walking distance in people with intermittent claudication.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Assessing the Pragmatic Nature of Mobile Health Interventions Promoting Physical Activity: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Pooled it
- Do physical activity interventions combining self-monitoring with other components provide an additional benefit compared with self-monitoring alone? A systematic review and meta-analysis.British journal of sports medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Using Mobile Applications to Increase Physical Activity: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- The effects of step-count monitoring interventions on physical activity: systematic review and meta-analysis of community-based randomised controlled trials in adults.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2020Pooled it
- Mobile Apps for Health Behavior Change in Physical Activity, Diet, Drug and Alcohol Use, and Mental Health: Systematic Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2020Pooled it
- Your Personal Motivator is with You: A Systematic Review of Mobile Phone Applications Aiming at Increasing Physical Activity.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2019Pooled it
- What is the role of smartphones on physical activity promotion? A systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of public health · 2019Pooled it
- Can Smartphone Apps Increase Physical Activity? Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Pooled it
- An app-based physical activity intervention for people with hip and knee osteoarthritis: protocol for the PIANISSIMO feasibility study.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Fine-tuning Large Language Models in Behavioral Psychology for Scalable Physical Activity Coaching.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Fine-tuning LLMs in behavioral psychology for scalable health coaching.NPJ cardiovascular health · 2025Article
- Article
- Video-based smartphone app ('VIDEA bewegt') for physical activity support in German adults: a single-armed observational study.BMJ open · 2022Observational
- Smartphone-Based Interventions for Physical Activity Promotion: Scoping Review of the Evidence Over the Last 10 Years.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2021Article
- Unraveling Mobile Health Exercise Interventions for Adults: Scoping Review on the Implementations and Designs of Persuasive Strategies.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2021Article
- The Physical Activity Wearables in the Police Force (PAW-Force) study: acceptability and impact.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Article
- Review
- Can Smartphone-Derived Step Data Predict Laboratory-Induced Real-Life Like Fall-Risk in Community- Dwelling Older Adults?Frontiers in sports and active living · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSmartphones are ideal for promoting physical activity in those with little intrinsic motivation for exercise. This study tested three hypotheses: H1 - receipt of social feedback generates higher step-counts than receipt of no feedback; H2 - receipt of social feedback generates higher step-counts than only receiving feedback on one's own walking; H3 - receipt of feedback on one's own walking generates higher step-counts than no feedback (H3).
methodsA parallel group randomised controlled trial measured the impact of feedback on steps-counts. Healthy male participants (n = 165) aged 18-40 were given phones pre-installed with an app that recorded steps continuously, without the need for user activation. Participants carried these with them as their main phones for a two-week run-in and six-week trial. Randomisation was to three groups: no feedback (control); personal feedback on step-counts; group feedback comparing step-counts against those taken by others in their group. The primary outcome measure, steps per day, was assessed using longitudinal multilevel regression analysis. Control variables included attitude to physical activity and perceived barriers to physical activity.
resultsFifty-five participants were allocated to each group; 152 completed the study and were included in the analysis: n = 49, no feedback; n = 53, individual feedback; n = 50, individual and social feedback. The study provided support for H1 and H3 but not H2. Receipt of either form of feedback explained 7.7 % of between-subject variability in step-count (F = 6.626, p < 0.0005). Compared to the control, the expected step-count for the individual feedback group was 60 % higher (effect on log step-count = 0.474, 95 % CI = 0.166-0.782) and that for the social feedback group, 69 % higher (effect on log step-count = 0.526, 95 % CI = 0.212-0.840). The difference between the two feedback groups (individual vs social feedback) was not statistically significant.
conclusionsAlways-on smartphone apps that provide step-counts can increase physical activity in young to early-middle-aged men but the provision of social feedback has no apparent incremental impact. This approach may be particularly suitable for inactive people with low levels of physical activity; it should now be tested with this population.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.