Physical Activity Trends Among Adults in a National Mobile Health Program: A Population-Based Cohort Study of 411,528 Adults

Physical inactivity is a global public health challenge, and effective, large-scale interventions are needed. We examined the effectiveness of a population-wide mobile health (mHealth) intervention in Singapore, National Steps Challenge Season 3 (NSC3) and 2 booster challenges (Personal Pledge and Corporate Challenge). The study includes 411,528 participants. We used regression discontinuity design and difference-in-difference with fixed-effects regression to examine the association of NSC3 and the additional booster challenges on daily step counts. Participants tended to be female (58.5%), with an average age of 41.5 years (standard deviation, 13.9) and body mass index (weight (kg)/height (m)(2)) of 23.8 (standard deviation, 4.5). We observed that NSC3 was associated with a mean increase of 1,437 steps (95% confidence interval (CI): 1,408, 1,467) per day. Enrollments in Personal Pledge and Corporate Challenge were associated with additional mean increases of 1,172 (95% CI: 1,123, 1,222) and 896 (95% CI: 862, 930) steps per day, respectively. For NSC3, the associated mean increase in the step counts across different sex and age groups varied, with greater increases for female participants and those in the oldest age group. We provide real-world evidence suggesting that NSC3 was associated with improvements in participants' step counts. Results suggest NSC3 is an effective and appealing population-wide mHealth physical activity intervention.

Automated summary

Physical inactivity is a global health challenge, and a population-wide mobile health intervention in Singapore (NSC3) was found to be effective in increasing participants' daily step counts. Two booster challenges, Personal Pledge and Corporate Challenge, were associated with additional increases in step counts.