A lifestyle intervention supported by mobile health technologies to improve the cardiometabolic risk profile of individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes: study rationale and ...
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Date
2014-02-13
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors that greatly increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes Regular exercise improves the risk profile but most people do not successfully change their exercise habits to beneficially reduce risk Tailored exercise prescribed by a family physician has shown promise as a means to increase fitness and reduce cardiometabolic risk but optimal implementation practices remain unknown Mobile health technologies have proved to be a beneficial tool to achieve blood pressure and blood glucose control in patients with diabetes These technologies may address the limited access to health interventions in rural and remote regions However the potential as a tool to support exercise based prevention activities is not well understood This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of a tailored exercise prescription alone or supported by mobile health technologies to improve metabolic syndrome and related cardiometabolic risk factors in rural community dwelling adults at risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes METHODS DESIGN Adults n 149 with at least two metabolic syndrome risk factors were recruited from rural communities and randomized to either 1 an intervention group receiving an exercise prescription and devices for monitoring of risk factors with a smartphone data portal equipped with a mobile health application or 2 an active control group receiving only an exercise prescription All participants reported to the research centre at baseline and at 12 24 and 52 week follow up visits for measurement of anthropometrics and blood pressure and for a blood draw to test blood borne markers of cardiometabolic health Vascular and autonomic function were examined Fitness was assessed and exercise prescribed according to the Step Test and Exercise Prescription protocol DISCUSSION This study tested the effects of a prescriptive exercise intervention alone versus one supported by mobile health technology on cardiometabolic risk factors The intervention was designed to be translated into clinical or community based programming Results will contribute to the current literature by investigating the utility of mobile health technology support for exercise prescription interventions to improve cardiometabolic risk status and maintain improvements over time particularly in rural communities TRIAL REGISTRATION CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION NCT01944124
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Keywords
Installed application, Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease, Preventive, Health education or promotion, Treatment adherence, Client, Addressing individual beliefs and practices, Low adherence to treatments, Pilot, Usability