Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23111127›Full record

Trial reportJournal of medical Internet research2012

Effect of a Web-based intervention to promote physical activity and improve health among physically inactive adults: a population-based randomized controlled trial.

Andreas Wolff Hansen, Morten Grønbæk, Jørn Wulff Helge, Maria Severin, Tine Curtis, Janne Schurmann Tolstrup

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of medical Internet research, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01295203 (Internet-based Physical Activity Intervention), which is not on this map. Cited by 35 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
35citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT01295203 phase3completednot on this map

Internet-based Physical Activity Intervention

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of Southern DenmarkRan2008 to 2009Enrolled12,287ConditionsPhysical ActivityArmswebsite assess
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

35 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Pooled it
  9. Pooled it
  10. Trial
  11. Trial
  12. Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Trial
  15. Trial
  16. Trial
  17. Trial
  18. Trial
  19. Effects of digital physical activity interventions on muscle mechanical function in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European review of aging and physical activity : official journal of the European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity · 2025
    Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Andreas Wolff HansenNational Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark. awh@niph.dk
Morten Grønbæk
Jørn Wulff Helge
Maria Severin
Tine Curtis
Janne Schurmann Tolstrup

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMany people in Western countries do not follow public health physical activity (PA) recommendations. Web-based interventions provide cost- and time-efficient means of delivering individually targeted lifestyle modification at a population level.

objectiveTo examine whether access to a website with individually tailored feedback and suggestions on how to increase PA led to improved PA, anthropometrics, and health measurements.

methodsPhysically inactive adults (n = 12,287) participating in a nationwide eHealth survey and health examination in Denmark were randomly assigned to either an intervention (website) (n = 6055) or a no-intervention control group (n = 6232) in 2008. The intervention website was founded on the theories of stages of change and of planned behavior and, apart from a forum page where a physiotherapist answered questions about PA and training, was fully automated. After 3 and again after 6 months we emailed participants invitations to answer a Web-based follow-up questionnaire, which included the long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. A subgroup of participants (n = 1190) were invited to a follow-up health examination at 3 months.

resultsLess than 22.0% (694/3156) of the participants logged on to the website once and only 7.0% (222/3159) logged on frequently. We found no difference in PA level between the website and control groups at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. By dividing participants into three groups according to use of the intervention website, we found a significant difference in total and leisure-time PA in the website group. The follow-up health examination showed no significant reductions in body mass index, waist circumference, body fat percentage, and blood pressure, or improvements in arm strength and aerobic fitness in the website group.

conclusionsBased on our findings, we suggest that active users of a Web-based PA intervention can improve their level of PA. However, for unmotivated users, single-tailored feedback may be too brief. Future research should focus on developing more sophisticated interventions with the potential to reach both motivated and unmotivated sedentary individuals.

trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT01295203; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01295203 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6B7HDMqiQ).

Indexed as

InternetMotor ActivitySedentary BehaviorDenmarkHealth PromotionHumansSurveys and Questionnaires

Identifiers

PMID23111127
PMCPMC3510714

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.