Title : Activity tracker to increase motivation for physical activity in patients with Type 2 diabetes in primary care: A hybrid type 1 study
Abstract:
According to the World Health Organization, diabetes is the direct cause of 1.5 million deaths annually. The adoption of healthy lifestyles, such as regular and consistent physical activity, plays an important role in reducing the prevalence of diabetes and its complications. The use of an activity tracker could favor behaviour changes. We realized a hybrid type 1 study to determine effectiveness of a fitness activity tracker to follow lifestyle habits and to better understand the implantation context in primary care. We first conducted a randomized pilot trial to evaluate the impact of an activity tracker on physical activity (PA) in a real-life context among patients with type 2 diabetes. Second, we performed a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) of this randomized pilot trial to assess the feasibility of an activity tracker implementation in primary care setting. Cardiometabolic risk variables, physical activity and motivation were assessed at baseline and after three months. Physical activity assessed by questionnaires increased in both groups, change being greater in the intervention group (P< 0.05). High-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in the intervention group and decreased in the control group (P=0.014). Resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased over time in both groups (P< 0.05) whereas glycated hemoglobin tended to decrease in both groups (P=0.080). In total, 86% of the patients were satisfied with their activity tracker use, and 79% did with the technical support provided by the team. Its implementation in primary care is feasible as demonstrated by the high satisfaction rate and the high adhesion to the device’s wearing. The main strengths of the team members’ perspective were the study design, the team, and the device. The weaknesses were the budgetary constraints, the turnover, and the technical issues. The opportunities were the primary care setting and the common technology. The threats were the recruitment, the administrative challenges, and the technological difficulties. Our results suggest that the fitness activity tracker improves the cardiometabolic profile of diabetic patients and is a good source of motivation to increase physical activity. Research team members agreed that implementation can be realize in primary care, but some challenges remain for using this lifestyle tool in clinical practice regularly.
Audience Take Away:
- The audience will learn how to realize a hybrid type 1 study in primary care: randomized pilot trial and SWOT analysis.
- This research will help the audience to know more about the implementation of an activity tracker to increase motivation for physical activity among patients with type 2 diabetes. The audience will better understand how to evaluate the impact of activity tracker on physical activity and cardiometabolic variables and how to assess the feasibility of its implantation in primary care setting. Also, other faculty could use hybrid type 1 design to expand their research or teaching to the health community and patients.
