Can RFID Technology Capture Stair Walking

University of Georgia (UGA)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Physical Activity; Blood Pressure

Treatments: Behavioral: Stair Walking

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04050332

PROJECT00000674

Details and patient eligibility

About

There are two main aims for this study:

1. conduct a proof-of-concept study illustrating how radio-frequency identification technology can be used to document the timestamps and duration of stair walking (ascending and descending stairs), and detect if an individual is stationary in the stairwell.
2. assess the association of a 4-min bout of self-paced stair walking with changes in blood pressure, mood, and perceived exertion.

Full description

Objective, passive methods for measuring physical activity participation can minimize error associated with self-report bias and cognitive processing. This study will test the utility of radio frequency identification (RFID) for the measurement of stair walking within buildings. RFID readers will be placed at stairwell entrances on each floor. Participants will wear a RFID tag. As the participant walks past the different readers going up and down the stairs, the reader will log the date and time. The frequency and duration of time in the stairwell can be calculated, as can an estimated speed.

There are known effects for blood pressure (hypotensive) and moodafter exercise. However, few studies have assessed this effect for short bouts (<10 minutes) of exercise. Participants will have their pre- and post-stair walking blood pressure measured to determine the hypotensive and mood enhancing effects of four minutes of stair walking at a comfortable pace. Participants also will rate the exertion level of four minutes of stair walking at a self-selected pace.

Enrollment: 39 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 35 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• in desired age range

Exclusion criteria

• Unable to or uncomfortable climbing stairs
• Not cleared for exercise using the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q+)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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39 participants in 2 patient groups

Stair Walking

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in this arm will engage in four minutes of stair walking while being tracked by radio frequency identification equipment.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Stair Walking

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants in this arm will stand in the stairwell for four minutes while being tracked by radio frequency identification equipment.