A text messaging intervention increasing sports participation in university students
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN13035021 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN13035021 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | SSHS-2017-083 |
- Submission date
- 29/01/2018
- Registration date
- 06/02/2018
- Last edited
- 29/03/2021
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Nutritional, Metabolic, Endocrine
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Students within higher education can gain a number of benefits from participating in sport, such as grade improvements and stress reduction. Despite these benefits, participation in sport usually decreases when students begin university. Interventions are therefore needed to increase the performance of this behaviour. Interventions using health psychological theory are more likely to be successful compared to those not using theory. The aim of this study is to increase student participation in recreational sport through the delivery of a mobile health intervention targeting motivation and goal priority.
Who can participate?
Adults aged 18-24 years old who are understanding first-year study at the institution of interest and who own a mobile phone.
What does the study involve?
There are four conditions within the study: attitude only, goal priority only, attitude + goal priority, and active control group. Participants are randomly allocated to one of the four conditions and receive text messages related to their condition (i.e., messages targeting attitude, messages targeting goal priority, and messages targeting attitude and goal priority). Those who are allocated to the control group receive generalised information. Participants are followed up two and four weeks after the start of the study to see how many people are participating in sports.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The study has a number of benefits. First, participants may find that the intervention encourages the participation in a behaviour that perhaps they are not so familiar with. Next, the behaviour provides a number of health benefits. Finally, participants may gain information that they were previously unaware of relating to sports participation and the psychology underpinning the behaviour.
Where is the study run from?
Leeds Trinity University (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
December 2017-April 2018
Who is funding the study?
Leeds Trinity University (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Tom St Quinton
t.stquinton@leedstrinity.ac.uk
Contact information
Public
Leeds Trinity University
Brownberrie Lane
Horsforth
Leeds
LS18 5HD
United Kingdom
Study information
| Study design | Factorial design interventional randmoised controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Other |
| Study type | Quality of life |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet |
| Scientific title | A text messaging factorial design targeting motivation and goal priority to increase student participation in university recreational sport |
| Study acronym | SPILTS |
| Study objectives | 1. The motivational and implemental components will have main effects on self-reported behaviour at follow-up 2. Motivational x implemental interaction effect will result in the combined condition being more effective than each of the individual conditions alone. |
| Ethics approval(s) | The School of Social and Health Sciences Ethics Committee, 25/01/2018, ref: SSHS-2017-083 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Physical activity |
| Intervention | Text messages are sent using ‘Fast SMS’, a messaging service used by businesses to distribute bulk SMS text messages. The factorial design will result in four intervention conditions: attitude only, goal priority only, attitude & goal priority, and active control. 1. Attitude only: text messages targeting the attitude construct are sent three days per week for two weeks. 2. Goal priority only: text messages targeting goal priority are sent three days per week for two weeks. 3. Attitude + goal priority: attitude and goal priority messages are combined within one text message. These are sent three days per week for two weeks. 4. Active control group: the control group are contacted for the same duration and at the same time as the experimental conditions. The content of text messages are generalised information concerning the benefits of sports participation. The days (i.e., Mon-Sun) and time of day (i.e., morning, afternoon, evening) varies for each message. However, each condition receives a message at the same time. Examples of the text messages to be distributed within each condition can be seen in Table B1. Participants also receive introductory messages and prompts to respond to questionnaires. Such text messages and the message within which they occur can be seen in Table B2. Participant numbers Using a power 0.8 for each main effect or interaction (all Numerator df = 1), at an alpha of 0.05, and an effect size of f=0.25, G*Power 3.1.9.2 estimates the required sample size to be 128. Taking into consideration an additional 50% for participant dropout) results in a final required sample size of 192 (48 participants per condition). Randomisation Participants are randomised to one of four groups using a computer-based random number generator (see Figure A2). Blocked randomisation are used to ensure an equal number of participants in each condition. Blocks of eight are used, with four participants randomised to one of the four conditions (1:1:1:1 allocation). Automated assignment ensure allocation concealment. Both the researchers and study participants are blinded to intervention conditions (i.e., the control group receives generalised information regarding sports participation). |
| Intervention type | Device |
| Pharmaceutical study type(s) | |
| Phase | |
| Drug / device / biological / vaccine name(s) | |
| Primary outcome measure | Self-reported behaviour assessing the number of weeks of sports participation are measured using online questionnaires at baseline, T1 (two weeks after baseline) and T2 (four weeks after baseline) |
| Secondary outcome measures | Changes in psychological processes (attitude, intention, goal priority) are measured using online questionnaires at baseline, T1 (two weeks after baseline) and T2 (four weeks after baseline) |
| Overall study start date | 01/12/2017 |
| Completion date | 01/06/2018 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Lower age limit | 18 Years |
| Upper age limit | 25 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 192 |
| Total final enrolment | 289 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. Aged 18-25 years 2. Undertaking first-year study at the university 3. Own a mobile phone 4. Have not taken any medication for a heart condition within the past year |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Are not aged 18-25 years 2. Are not undertaking first-year study at the university 3. Do not own a mobile phone 4. Have taken medication for a heart condition within the past year |
| Date of first enrolment | 22/01/2018 |
| Date of final enrolment | 14/02/2018 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- United Kingdom
Study participating centre
Horsforth
Leeds
LS18 5HD
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
University/education
Brownberrie Lane
Horsforth
Leeds
LS18 5HD
England
United Kingdom
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/02x80b031 |
|---|
Funders
Funder type
University/education
Private sector organisation / Universities (academic only)
- Location
- United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/06/2019 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Study findings will sought to be published within health psychology journals (i.e., Psychology and Health, Health Psychology Review, and the British Journal of Health Psychology). We intend to publish around one year after the overall trial end date. Additional documentation will be available upon request. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are/will be available upon request from Investigator: Tom St Quinton, email: t.stquinton@leedstrinity.ac.uk |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | 01/01/2021 | 29/03/2021 | Yes | No |
Editorial Notes
29/03/2021: The following changes have been made:
1. Publication reference added.
2. The final enrolment number has been added from the reference.
12/03/2018: The following changes were made:
1. Overall trial end date changed from 06/04/2018 to 01/06/2018.
2. Intention to publish date changed from 06/04/2019 to 01/06/2019.
