Joint Open Research Project · Catherine Ge + Starr Choi · v0.1 frozen

Physical Activity Adherence — Digital Intervention Micro Map v0.1

身体活动依从性 — 数字干预微地图 v0.1

A descriptive micro-map of 10 selected adult digital physical-activity intervention studies, structured around intervention components, behaviour-change mechanisms, time points and maintenance.

This project is jointly maintained by Catherine Ge and Starr Choi. It sits within SISFIT Open Research because it overlaps directly with Catherine's research interests in behaviour change, physical activity and digital health, while remaining methodologically distinct from her independent secondary-analysis projects.

10 studiesPA001–PA010
2007–2019Publication years
Adult PA interventionsSelected digital studies
Descriptive structural mapNot an effectiveness ranking
Working Model

From measurement to repeated action

measurement → personal feedback → goal / reference → prompt / support → repeat

The v0.1 map suggests that the more useful design question is not simply whether an intervention includes tracking, but what happens after measurement and whether the resulting feedback loop stays behaviorally salient during maintenance.

Patterns Visible in v0.1

Six recurring design issues

Self-monitoring + feedback recur

Tracking technologies vary, but monitoring-linked feedback is a common backbone across this set.

More contact is not reliably more value

Extra SMS, social comparison or prolonged app exposure did not consistently add durable benefit.

Acquisition ≠ maintenance

Several early between-group differences diminished or disappeared at later time points.

Relative advantage ≠ absolute increase

A group can look better because it declines less from baseline.

Behaviour ≠ physiological capacity

More walking or leisure-time activity does not automatically imply improved fitness outcomes.

Packages create attribution problems

Multi-component trials often cannot identify which component actually produced the observed difference.

10-Study Map

Selected digital physical-activity interventions

Ten selected digital physical-activity intervention studies in v0.1
IDStudyDigital contrastKey coded resultSource
PA001Fanning et al. (2017)Smartphone self-monitoring + factorial goal/points modulesPoints-based feedback associated with higher MVPA; all groups increased MVPA.DOI
PA002Carr et al. (2013)Enhanced web intervention vs standard PA websiteAdvantage at 3 months; no significant between-group difference at 6 months.DOI
PA003Zhou et al. (2018)Adaptive personalized step goals vs fixed 10,000-step goalAdaptive goals had a better relative trajectory while absolute steps declined in both groups.DOI
PA004Slootmaker et al. (2009)Activity monitor + tailored web adviceNo significant PA effect at intervention end or follow-up.DOI
PA005Hurling et al. (2007)Internet/mobile program + real-time activity feedbackIntervention favored moderate PA by accelerometer and self-report.DOI
PA006Wang et al. (2015)Fitbit self-monitoring + SMS vs Fitbit onlyEarly week-1 SMS advantage did not persist to week 6.DOI
PA007Gell & Wadsworth (2015)Targeted SMS for working women12-week group difference was not significant at 24 weeks and largely reflected less decline.DOI
PA008Maddison et al. (2015)Personalized mHealth cardiac rehabilitationWalking/leisure PA increased; peak VO₂ did not improve vs usual care.DOI
PA009Harries et al. (2016)Personal feedback vs added social comparisonFeedback beat no feedback; social comparison did not significantly beat personal feedback.DOI
PA010Fukuoka et al. (2019)App + counseling acquisition phase; app continuation for maintenanceInitial PA gains were significant; prolonged app use did not improve maintenance vs accelerometer only.DOI
Working v0.2

Working v0.2 — External Method Check

The working v0.2 layer extends the map to PA001–PA015 and separates intervention phase, active-comparator structure, adaptation, engagement/exposure, and maintenance interpretation. It is publicly browsable and external methodological validation is still pending.

External feedback question: is our operational mapping of PA006, PA010, PA012 and PA013 onto implementation/exposure versus incremental behavioral-effect failure defensible, and is “preserved behavior” a useful descriptive maintenance outcome category?

v0.2 remains a working layer. Frozen v0.1 and its Zenodo record are unchanged.

Method Boundary

What v0.1 does and does not claim

This is a convenience micro-map for structural comparison and correction. It is not a systematic review, meta-analysis or intervention-effectiveness ranking. Mechanism labels remain descriptive; BCTTv1 numeric codes are not inferred; null findings are retained; and time point, absolute direction and between-group contrast are kept distinct.

Candidate v0.2 question: Under what conditions does a digital self-monitoring + feedback loop remain behaviorally salient long enough to support physical-activity maintenance?

Co-maintained by Catherine Ge and Starr Choi / SISFIT. Corrections are intended to be transparent and versioned.