Computer Calls Can Talk Couch Potatoes into Walking

As researchers continue to study ways to help encourage more people to get exercise, they have found a low-cost method that has shown it can do just this. In a recent press release, researchers said that using computer-generated phone calls that gave people reminders to get out and exercise has proven to work.

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine detailed their findings. During this study, participants received telephone calls on a regular basis that reminded them to get exercise.

The study showed that this simple process resulted in prodding most adults, who had been inactive, into getting a regular exercise for 150-minutes a week. The goal of this study was to improve the amount of exercise that the participants participated in during the week.

Ultimately, the desire was to motivate them to walk for 30 minutes or more, nearly every day of the week. So that results could be judged scientifically, participants wore an accelerometer. This device estimates the intensity and duration of physical activity people get.

When the computer called people, it was an interactive system. According to researchers the typical telephone call might sound like this, "Hello, Mrs. Jones. Your goal last time we talked was to do 30 minutes per day of brisk walking five days per week. Were you able to reach this goal? If yes, press 1; if no, press 2. What kind of barriers got in your way? If illness, press 1; if weather, press 2."

In addition to being interactive, the computer would actually make suggestions for how participants could get physical exercise when any conditions existed that might otherwise hamper their efforts. For instance, if weather was a problem, the computer might suggest walking indoors, or at a mall.

The computer would also let people establish their goals for the upcoming week, and schedule their next telephone call 'conversation.

Using a computer to make phone calls like this was fairly inexpensive, yet provided great returns. Participants averaged 157 minutes of exercise every week. Participants who spoke with a live person averaged 178 minutes of exercise a week. A small difference for such large returns.

"This is the first study to directly compare the efficacy of a physical activity program delivered by a computer versus humans and found them to work similarly well. Theoretically, it could be delivered to anybody around the country or around the world, and could save time and money," said Abby King, PhD, professor of health research and policy and a senior investigator at the Stanford Prevention Research Center.

All of the participants got the opportunity to hear the pre-recorded message, and said that these computer-generated messages would not be helpful. Instead, they insisted on speaking with a live person instead. The research demonstrated that both computer generated reminders and reminders from live people both increased the activity level of the participants.

This study has been published in the journal, Health Psychology.

Source:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-12/sumc-ccc120407.php