In the last few years, pedometers and personal fitness trackers have experienced a boom in popularity. Everyone wants to each that mark of 10,000 steps a day, and having a nice device on your wrist to guide you is a nice motivator. However, they need to be implemented correctly to achieve a maximum affect. As one example, one study examined how people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could get the most out of their pedometers (Wan et al., 2017). This article will briefly present the protocol used in that study as well as the findings obtained.
Methods
This study examined 109 United States army veterans with COPD, the vast majority of which were male. For baseline data collection, the study had all participants walk with a pedometer for seven days. The participants could not see how much they were walking due to a sticker placed over each pedometer screen. Following this baseline data collection, the participants were randomized into a pedometer plus website group (the experimental group) or a pedometer only group (the control group).
The participants in the experimental group were instructed to do the following:
- Wear the pedometer during all waking hours
- Upload step counts weekly
- Access a website “which provided the four key components of individualized goal-setting, iterative step-count feedback for self-monitoring, educational and motivational content to enhance disease self-management and self-efficacy, and an online community forum for social support”
- Meet individualized step-count goals
Meanwhile, the participants in the control group were only instructed to do the following:
- Wear a pedometer during all waking hours
- Upload step counts at least monthly
- Access written materials about exercise at the beginning of the study
The following measures were used to collect data at baseline and at the end of the study (after three months):
- Daily step count
- 6-minute walk test (6MWT) distance
- Exercise adherence
- Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQL)
- Motivation and confidence to exercise daily
- Spirometry
- St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ)
- Modified Medical Research Council (MMRC)
- Beck Depression Inventory-II
- Bristol COPD Knowledge Questionnaire
- Exercise Self-Regulatory Efficacy Scale
- Medical outcome Study Social Support survey
Results
The following results were obtained:
- The experimental group showed significantly more daily steps than baseline starting at week 3, which was maintained throughout the study
- The control group did not show any significant changes in daily steps throughout the study
- The change in daily steps from baseline was significantly larger for the experimental group than it was for the control group
In other words, participants in the pedometer plus website group walked significantly more daily steps compared to baseline than participants in the pedometer alone group.
Wrapping up
These results suggest that the benefits of a pedometer can be maximized when paired with use of a website encouraging healthy habits. This suggests that individuals can be better encouraged to exercise with a pedometer and additional support, rather than with just the pedometer alone. This is another case where some technology can help people reach their goals, but the benefits of the technology are maximized when paired with informational and motivational support.
References
Wan, E.S., Kantorowski, A., Homsy, D., Teylan, M., Kadri, R., Richardson, C.R., Gagnon, D.R., Garshick, E., Moy, M.L. (2017). Promoting Physical Activity in COPD: Insights From a Randomized Trial of a Web-Based Intervention and Pedometer Use. Respiratory Medicine, 130(1), 102-110. doi: 10.1016/j.rmed.2017.07.057.
