Acceptability and usability of a theory-driven intervention to promote physical activity in women who are overweight or obese via email: Sub-study within a randomized controlled trial (Preprint)

Background Insufficient physical activity (PA) and excess weight increase illness risk for women. Face-to-face interventions can increase PA levels; however, they are often inaccessible. With growing interest in digital interventions, a Self-Determination Theory (SDT)–driven intervention was developed and delivered via email to promote PA in women who were insufficiently active and overweight or obese. Objective This substudy explores users’ perspectives about the acceptability and usability of the intervention, which was coupled with a wearable activity monitor and PA recommendations. Methods A 3-arm, parallel group, randomized controlled trial (unblinded) was conducted in Ontario, Canada. Recruitment occurred from September 2018 to March 2019 via advertising through social media, web-based boards, and posters in publicly accessible areas. In total, 47 women with a BMI of ≥25 kg/m2 who were not meeting the Canadian PA guidelines were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 arms (arm 1: n=15, 32%; arm 2: n=16, 34%; arm 3: n=16, 34%). This substudy focused on the 15 participants allocated to the main intervention arm. Participants received an automated intervention consisting of (1) 6 weekly emails, (2) a Polar Electro Inc A300 activity monitor (with access to the Polar Flow website and companion smartphone app), and (3) a copy of the Canadian PA guidelines for adults. Emails were developed using SDT and designed to enhance autonomous motivation by fostering the psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Well-established motivational and behavior change techniques were embedded in the emails to promote needs satisfaction. After the intervention (ie, 7 weeks after randomization), participants were invited to complete a web-based acceptability and usability survey containing open-ended and closed-ended questions; responses were analyzed using descriptive and content analyses, respectively. Results The analyses included data from 93% (14/15) of the women (age: mean 33.4, SD 7.5; range 24-44 years; BMI: mean 31.3, SD 5.8 kg/m2; range 25-40.5 kg/m2) who received the main intervention and completed the postintervention survey. Open-ended responses indicated that participants were generally satisfied with the intervention and appreciated that emails prompted self-reflection, kept them on track and accountable, provided informational support, and were nonpressuring. Furthermore, they suggested that the monitor was “enjoyable” and “helpful”; quantitative data corroborated this, as 71% (10/14) said that the monitor was “very valuable/absolutely valuable,” 71% (10/14) would “very probably/definitely” still use one, and 86% (12/14) wore it for ≥5 days per week for ≥8 hours per day and checked it “occasionally/frequently/very frequently.” Potential threats to acceptability included “long” and “text-heavy” emails; lack of personal contact; and cumbersome, unaesthetic monitors. Conclusions Results suggest that this SDT-driven, email-delivered intervention may be an acceptable low-contact approach to promote PA in women who are overweight or obese and insufficiently active; however, improvements are warranted and studies ascertaining its effectiveness are needed. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03601663; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03601663 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.1177/20552076221093134