Search

Health and exercise technology may promote a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to understand and involve the perspective of pregnant women as users in the design of a framework for future e-health and exercise interventions during pregnancy. Pregnant women replied to a questionnaire aimed at understanding their physical activity patterns, needs, and preferences regarding the use of mobile applications (apps). The main results showed that one-third of the women did not practice any type of exercise during pregnancy. Women preferred to exercise in a gym, outdoors, or at home. The majority already had or were currently using a fitness app, but never used any pregnancy-specific app. Most women agreed that it was important to have a specific app for pregnancy to improve knowledge about recommendations on lifestyle, have direct contact with health and exercise professionals, have social interaction with other mothers, and have guidance on preparation for childbirth and postpartum recovery. Understanding and involving the perspective of pregnant women as users will allow researchers to improve the design of a pregnancy-specific app and future e-health and exercise interventions during pregnancy. These preliminary results will lead to the development of the "active pregnancy app" focused on the promotion of an active and healthy lifestyle during pregnancy and postpartum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Anthropomorphic conversational agents (ACA) are a promising digital tool to support self-management of type 2 diabetes (T2D), albeit little explored. There is a dearth of literature on the detailed content of these interventions, which may limit effectiveness and replication. Our aim is to describe the development of an evidence and theory-based intervention to improve physical activity in older adults with T2D, subsumed in a multi-behavior intervention via a mobile application with an ACA. Methods: Overall decisions on the multi-behavior intervention design, such as the use of standardized behavior change techniques (BCTTv1), guided the development of the physical activity component. Firstly, recommendations on ambulatory activity were used to select the target behavior (walking). Meta-research on effective behavior change techniques (BCTs) was then identified. One meta-analysis linked effective BCTs with the three basic psychological needs of the self-determination theory (SDT). This meta-analysis, taken together with additional evidence on SDT, led to the selection of this theory to inform the design. BCTs were extracted from meta-research; we selected the most appropriate to be operationalized via the conversational agent through multidisciplinary discussions. Rules governing the dialogue flow and BCTs tailoring, taking the form “if some conditions hold then execute some action,” were derived based on the Basic Psychological in Exercise Scale (competence, autonomy, and relatedness scores), in conjunction with published evidence and multidisciplinary discussions. Results: Thirteen BCTs were implemented in the prototype via the ACA (e.g., goal setting behavior 1.1). Six if-then rules were derived and depicted in the dialogue steps through process flow diagrams, which map how the system functions. An example of a rule is “If competence score≤10 then, apply BCT 1.1 with 500 steps increments as options for the daily walking goal; If competence score>10 then, apply BCT 1.1 with 1,000 steps increments as options for the daily walking goal.” Conclusion: Evidence and SDT were translated into a mobile application prototype using an ACA to promote physical activity in older adults with T2D. This approach, which includes 13 BCTs and six if-then rules for their tailoring, may leverage the efforts of others in developing similar interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is unclear how sedentary behavior (SED), physical activity (PA), and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) influence vascular structure in children of varying body size. This study examined whether associations between SED, PA, and CRF with intima-media thickness (IMT) added to that of abdominal fatness and IMT. Differences in physiological measures among waist circumference (WC) percentiles were tested. Methods: We assessed IMT of the carotid artery in 265 children aged 11 to 13 years (135 girls). Measures included IMT assessed with high-resolution ultrasonography, WC, body fat mass (BFM) from DXA, and CRF determined using a maximal cycle test. SED and PA were assessed by accelerometry. Association between IMT and CRF adjusted for PA variables, and body composition phenotypes were tested with multiple linear regression analysis. Results: CRF was related to IMT independently of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) and SED (P < .05). When WC was added to the model CRF was no longer associated with IMT (P > .05). Children in the higher WC group had increased mean values of BMI, BFM, WC, and IMT and lower MVPA and CRF (P < .05). Conclusion: Full modeling of SED, MVPA, CRF, and WC revealed that regional adiposity appears to have the biggest role in arterial structure of children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]