Trial reportPloS one2018
The effect of automated text messaging and goal setting on pedometer adherence and physical activity in patients with diabetes: A randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 5 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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diabetes self-management education and support delivered by mobile health (mHealth) interventions for adults with type 2 diabetes-A systematic review and meta-analysis.Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association · 2025Pooled 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
- The Effectiveness of Mobile Phone Messaging-Based Interventions to Promote Physical Activity in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- Health wearable devices for weight and BMI reduction in individuals with overweight/obesity and chronic comorbidities: systematic review and network meta-analysis.British journal of sports medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Use of wearable biometric monitoring devices to measure outcomes in randomized clinical trials: a methodological systematic review.BMC medicine · 2020Pooled it
- A Psycholgical Intervention Delivered by Automated Mobile Phone Messaging Stabilized Hip and Knee Function During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Trial.The Journal of arthroplasty · 2022Trial
- A pharmacist intervention for monitoring and treating hypertension using bidirectional texting: PharmText BP.Contemporary clinical trials · 2020Trial
- The LURN Urinary Urgency and Lifestyle Wearable Tracker (ULTra) study: Design and feasibility.Continence (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2026Article
- mHealth Intervention to Promote Nonexercise Physical Activity in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: Secondary Analysis and Implementation Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Efficacy of a Remotely-Delivered Health Coaching Intervention for Young and Middle-Aged Cancer Survivors: A Phase II Pilot Study.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2025Article
- Using a Fitbit-based Walking Game to Improve Physical Activity Among U.S. Veterans.Military medicine · 2025Article
- The Impact of Physical Activity in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.American journal of lifestyle medicine · 2025Review
- A Social Media Intervention for Promoting Oral Health Behaviors in Adolescents: A Non-Randomized Pilot Clinical Trial.Oral (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Implementing an Activity Tracker to Increase Motivation for Physical Activity in Patients With Diabetes in Primary Care: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Usefulness of wearable fitness tracking devices in patients undergoing esophagectomy.Esophagus : official journal of the Japan Esophageal Society · 2022Article
- A Remote Health Coaching, Text-Based Walking Program in Ethnic Minority Primary Care Patients With Overweight and Obesity: Feasibility and Acceptability Pilot Study.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
- Article
- Use of Fitbit Devices in Physical Activity Intervention Studies Across the Life Course: Narrative Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2021Review
- Article
- Walking in pregnancy and prevention of insomnia in third trimester using pedometers: study protocol of Walking_Preg project (WPP). A randomized controlled trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 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
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionActivity-monitoring devices may increase activity, but their effectiveness in sedentary, diseased, and less-motivated populations is unknown.
methodsSubjects with diabetes or pre-diabetes were given a Fitbit and randomized into three groups: Fitbit only, Fitbit with reminders, and Fitbit with both reminders and goal setting. Subjects in the reminders group were sent text-message reminders to wear their Fitbit. The goal-setting group was sent a daily text message asking for a step goal. All subjects had three in-person visits (baseline, 3 and 6 months). We modelled daily steps and goal setting using linear mixed-effects models.
results138 subjects participated with 48 in the Fitbit-only, 44 in the reminders, and 46 in the goal-setting groups. Daily steps decreased for all groups during the study. Average daily steps were 7123, 6906, and 6854 for the Fitbit-only, the goal-setting, and the reminders groups, respectively. The reminders group was 17.2 percentage points more likely to wear their Fitbit than the Fitbit-only group. Setting a goal was associated with a significant increase of 791 daily steps, but setting more goals did not lead to step increases.
conclusionIn a population of patients with diabetes or pre-diabetes, individualized reminders to wear their Fitbit and elicit personal step goals did not lead to increases in daily steps, although daily steps were higher on days when goals were set. Our intervention improved engagement and data collection, important goals for activity surveillance. This study demonstrates that new, more-effective interventions for increasing activity in patients with pre-diabetes and diabetes are needed.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.