Training and Detraining Effects of a Physical Activity Program Implemented Through Mobile Applications in Adolescents.

Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia

Status: Completed

Conditions: Physical Activity; Adolescent Behavior; Body Composition; Physical Condition; Mobile Applications

Treatments: Behavioral: The use of mobile applications promoted from the physical education classroom to improve adolescent health.

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06164041

MobileApps-Re

Details and patient eligibility

About

The use of mobile applications to promote the practice of physical activity has begun to be used in the adolescent population in recent years. This has made it possible to carry out interventions inside and outside the educational setting, the latter being the ones that have brought the greatest benefits. Thus, it has been observed that the promotion of the use of mobile applications in out-of-school hours from the subject of physical education has reported significant benefits on body composition and fitness in the adolescent population. However, there is no known research that has analyzed whether the effect achieved with mobile applications when their use is mandatory disappears when they are no longer promoted from the physical education subject. Therefore, this project goes further and tries to find out whether after the ten-week period of mandatory use of the applications, adolescents continue to use the applications autonomously and the beneficial effects achieved are maintained or disappear due to the lack of use.

For this purpose, a 10-week intervention was planned in which the adolescents used the mobile applications. Prior to the start of the intervention, the adolescents' body composition and fitness (pre) were measured. At the end of the intervention of mandatory use of the mobile applications, the adolescents were measured again (post). And after the post measurement, the adolescents were left for 10 weeks during which they could use the applications autonomously. A third measurement of the adolescents was performed after this 10-week period (post 2).

The aim of this project was to find out the effects of stopping the use of the mobile fitness apps on body composition and fitness of the adolescents.

Enrollment: 357 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 12 to 16 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• enrollment in one of the selected educational centers.
• age comprised between 12-16 years old.
• completion of all questionnaires and physical tests during the three measurement periods (T1, T2 and T3).
• attending the kinanthropometric and body composition measurement periods.
• absence of any pathology or injury that would hinder participation in the tests or measurements conducted.

Exclusion criteria

• missing more than 20% of the compulsory physical education sessions throughout the academic year.
• lack of mobile phone.
• failure to meet the minimum mandatory weekly distance requirement in the App group when app usage was obligatory.
• changing schools or class group during the course of the intervention.
• starting or ending any form of physical activity during the intervention that could alter the level of physical activity practiced for reasons unrelated to the study.
• having presented any illness during the follow-up period that would have prevented them from engaging in their usual physical activity.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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357 participants in 5 patient groups

Control Group

No Intervention group

Description:

The control group did not use any of the research mobile applications, but were measured at pre, post and post 2. They continued attending physical education classes normally and practicing their sports activities.

Cardiovascular training through the application "MapMyWalk"

Experimental group

Description:

The adolescents who used this application were required to record their weekly workouts. To do this, before starting the workout, they entered the application, selected "walking" and started the record. The application included different warnings and alerts to encourage the practice of physical activity. Each week they had to make a weekly report with the distance covered.

Treatment:

Behavioral: The use of mobile applications promoted from the physical education classroom to improve adolescent health.

Cardiovascular training through the application "Strava"

Experimental group

Description:

The adolescents who used this application were required to record their weekly workouts. To do this, before starting the workout, they entered the application, selected "walking" and started the record. The application included different warnings and alerts to encourage the practice of physical activity. Each week they had to make a weekly report with the distance covered.

Treatment:

Behavioral: The use of mobile applications promoted from the physical education classroom to improve adolescent health.

Cardiovascular training through the application "Pacer"

Experimental group

Description:

The adolescents who used this application were required to record their weekly workouts. To do this, before starting the workout, they entered the application, selected "walking" and started the record. The application included different warnings and alerts to encourage the practice of physical activity. Each week they had to make a weekly report with the distance covered.

Treatment:

Behavioral: The use of mobile applications promoted from the physical education classroom to improve adolescent health.

Cardiovascular training through the application "Pokémon Go"

Experimental group

Description:

This application is considered immersive as teenagers enter a virtual world. In it, the distance traveled in the real world was accounted for in the video game, also appearing different Pokémon that they could capture, making the gaming experience more playful. In the same way, the teenagers had to keep a weekly record of the distance traveled.

Treatment:

Behavioral: The use of mobile applications promoted from the physical education classroom to improve adolescent health.