Effectiveness of technology-based distance interventions promoting physical activity : Systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression
Hakala, S., Rintala, A., Immonen, J., Karvanen, J., Heinonen, A., & Sjögren, T. (2017). Effectiveness of technology-based distance interventions promoting physical activity : Systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 49 (2), 97-105. doi:10.2340/16501977-2195
Published in
Journal of Rehabilitation MedicineAuthors
Date
2017Copyright
© 2017 Foundation of Rehabilitation Information. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.
Objective: To determine the effectiveness of technology-based
distance interventions for promoting
physical activity, using systematic review and metaanalysis.
Methods: A literature search of studies published
between 2000 and 2015 was conducted in the following
databases: CENTRAL, EMBASE, Ovid MEDLINE,
CINAHL, PsycINFO, OTseeker, WOS and PEDro. Studies
were selected according to the PICOS framework,
as follows: P (population): adults; I (intervention):
technology-based distance intervention for
promoting physical activity; C (comparison) similar
distance intervention without technology, O (outcomes)
physical activity; S (study design) randomized
controlled trial. Physical activity outcomes were extracted
and quality was assessed by 2 independent
authors.
Results: Eight studies were included in the metaanalysis.
The mean (standard deviation; range) me
thodological quality score of the studies was 6 (1.3;
4–8). Technology-based distance interventions were
not more or less effective than conventional treatment
whether measured as steps/day (mean difference
1,657; 95% confidence interval (95% CI)
–1,861 to 5,176, p=0.18), physical activity min/
week (mean difference 0.34; 95% CI –146.3 to
146.9, p=0.92), or as overall physical activity (response
ratio 1.1; 95% CI 0.8–1.4, p=0.65). No associations
between the intervention duration or study
quality and physical activity outcomes were found.
Data were statistically and clinically heterogeneous.
Conclusion: The effectiveness of technology-based
distance interventions for promoting physical activity
is similar to that of conventional treatment.
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