Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41864963›Full record

ArticleTrials2026

Testing a digitally administered intervention to increase social participation, physical fitness, and health awareness among healthy older adults by means of tablet-based app use: study protocol of the SMART-AGE randomized controlled trial.

Nicole Memmer, Meike Snijder-Steinhilber, Heinrich Burkhardt, Claudia Hellmund, Carl-Philipp Jansen, Verena M Kölsch, Julia Krönung, Beatrice G Kuhlmann, Lorenzo Masia, Frank Oswald and 20 more

Abstract readClinical Trial Protocol
In one paragraph

Article in Trials, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Real-world walking and activity patterns in community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the SMART-AGE trial.European review of aging and physical activity : official journal of the European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity · 2026
    Article
  3. 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

30 authors.

Nicole Memmer *Network Aging Research, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany. memmer@nar.uni-heidelberg.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9627-2494
Meike Snijder-Steinhilber *Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Heinrich BurkhardtMedical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Claudia HellmundNetwork Aging Research, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Carl-Philipp JansenGeriatric Center, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Verena M KölschMedical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Julia KrönungUniversity of Hagen, Hagen, Germany.
Beatrice G KuhlmannSchool of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
Lorenzo MasiaDepartment of Computer Engineering School of Computation, Information and Technology, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich University, Munich, Germany.
Frank OswaldCarl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg University, Oldenburg, Germany.
Barbara PaechInstitute for Computer Science, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Leon RadeckInstitute for Computer Science, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Anna SchlomannNetwork Aging Research, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Laura I SchmidtInstitute of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Marios E StefanakisClinic for Trauma and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Anna WankaCarl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg University, Oldenburg, Germany.
Franziska Kramer-GmeinerNetwork Aging Research, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Melissa BöttingerNetwork Aging Research, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Janina EwertCarl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg University, Oldenburg, Germany.
Sophie KniepkampUniversity of Hagen, Hagen, Germany.
Katharina Gordt-OsterwindNetwork Aging Research, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Elena LitzNetwork Aging Research, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Alica MertensSchool of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
Uwe SperlingMedical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Hans-Jörg EhniInstitute for the Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
Clemens BeckerGeriatric Center, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Hans-Werner WahlNetwork Aging Research, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Anna-Lena SchubertDepartment of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Tobias EckertNetwork Aging Research, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Jürgen BauerGeriatric Center, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDigital interventions for older adults may significantly extend preventive action to postpone disability and preserve health-related quality of life. However, more evidence is needed from multi-domain interventions using broad-scale objective and self-report assessments and intra-individual change data-analytical techniques.

methodSMART-AGE examines the effect of an app-based multilevel treatment designed to enhance social participation, physical fitness, and health awareness. The target population comprises healthy and community-dwelling adults 67 years and older with basic digital skills in two socially diverse communities. Treatment relies on an Android-based tablet computer, on which three apps offering interventions in the core areas of social participation, physical fitness, and health awareness are pre-installed. A feedback app designed to provide participants with a feedback option at any time is also offered. Participants are randomly assigned to three intervention arms and assessed at baseline and after 3 and 6 months. Arm 1 receives the full intervention, consisting of the social participation app, the physical fitness app, the health awareness app, and the feedback app. The health awareness app is available in months 4 to 6, meaning that participants receive the full three-app intervention only in the second half of the intervention period. Arm 2 receives the social participation app and the feedback app throughout the intervention. Arm 3 serves as an active control condition in that a stand-alone tablet with a low-dose introduction to publicly available standard apps is provided. The data protocol includes assessment of three primary outcome domains: social support and loneliness, motor capacity and physical performance, and health awareness and health locus of control. Potential moderators (e.g., cognitive function, depression) as well as various technology-oriented constructs (e.g., skills, acceptance) are also assessed. App use data are automatically collected across the full intervention interval in arms 1 and 2. Data management is conducted within a cloud-based REDCap architecture. Feedback recordings via the feedback app are collected in arms 1 and 2 and undergo qualitative analysis. DISCUSSION: The SMART-AGE intervention aims to enhance core domains of health-related quality of life in community-dwelling older adults through an app-based multi-domain intervention and a user-centered approach.

trial registrationGerman-Clinical-Trials-Register, DRKS00034316. Registered 29-May-2024, https://drks.de/search/en/trial/DRKS00034316 . The study's design and hypotheses were also pre-registered in the Open Science Framework (OSF) prior to study enrollment ( https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/YQEBW , 2023-04-28).

Indexed as

Computers, HandheldHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeHealthy AgingMobile ApplicationsPhysical FitnessSocial ParticipationAgedAge FactorsAwarenessDigital HealthFemaleHealth PromotionHumansMaleQuality of LifeRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicDigital based interventionHealth awarenessPhysical fitnessSocial participationTechnology acceptanceUser-centered design

Identifiers

PMID41864963
PMCPMC13063763

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.