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Evaluating Active U: an Internet-mediated physical activity program.

Buis, LR; Poulton, TA; Holleman, RG; Sen, A; Resnick, PJ; Goodrich, DE; Palma-Davis, L; Richardson, CR (2009) Evaluating Active U: an Internet-mediated physical activity program. BMC Public Health, 9 (331). ISSN 1471-2458 https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-331
SGUL Authors: Poulton, Terence Alan

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Abstract

Background: Engaging in regular physical activity can be challenging, particularly during the winter months. To promote physical activity at the University of Michigan during the winter months, an eight-week Internet-mediated program (Active U) was developed providing participants with an online physical activity log, goal setting, motivational emails, and optional team participation and competition. Methods: This study is a program evaluation of Active U. Approximately 47,000 faculty, staff, and graduate students were invited to participate in the online Active U intervention in the winter of 2007. Participants were assigned a physical activity goal and were asked to record each physical activity episode into the activity log for eight weeks. Statistics for program reach, effectiveness, adoption, and implementation were calculated using the Re-Aim framework. Multilevel regression analyses were used to assess the decline in rates of data entry and goal attainment during the program, to assess the likelihood of joining a team by demographic characteristics, to test the association between various predictors and the number of weeks an individual met his or her goal, and to analyze server load. Results: Overall, 7,483 individuals registered with the Active U website (≈16% of eligible), and 79% participated in the program by logging valid data at least once. Staff members, older participants, and those with a BMI < 25 were more likely to meet their weekly physical activity goals, and average rate of meeting goals was higher among participants who joined a competitive team compared to those who participated individually (IRR = 1.28, P < .001). Conclusion: Internet-mediated physical activity interventions that focus on physical activity logging and goal setting while incorporating team competition may help a significant percentage of the target population maintain their physical activity during the winter months.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: © 2009 Buis et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Body Mass Index, Exercise, Female, Goals, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Health Promotion, Health Status, Humans, Internet, Male, Michigan, Middle Aged, Models, Theoretical, Program Evaluation, Questionnaires, Universities, Young Adult
SGUL Research Institute / Research Centre: Academic Structure > Institute of Medical & Biomedical Education (IMBE)
Academic Structure > Institute of Medical & Biomedical Education (IMBE) > Centre for Innovation & Development in Education (INMEID)
Journal or Publication Title: BMC Public Health
ISSN: 1471-2458
Dates:
DateEvent
10 September 2009Published
PubMed ID: 19744311
Web of Science ID: 19744311
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URI: https://openaccess.sgul.ac.uk/id/eprint/101496
Publisher's version: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-331

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