The Effect of a Mobile and Wearable Device Intervention on Increased Physical Activity to Prevent Metabolic Syndrome: Observational Study

Abstract

Background: Research on whether wearable devices and app-based interventions can effectively prevent metabolic syndrome (MetS) by increasing physical activity (PA) among middle-aged people living in the rural areas of South Korea remains insufficient.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether mobile and wearable device interventions can improve health indicators, including PA, in MetS risk groups in rural South Korea.

Methods: In this clinical trial, performed from December 2019 to June 2020, participants were asked to use a wearable device (GalaxyWatch Active1) alone (standard intervention) or the wearable device and mobile app (Yonsei Health Korea) (enhanced intervention). Clinical measures and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) scores were evaluated initially and after 6 months. The number of steps was monitored through the website. The primary outcome was the difference in PA and clinical measures between the enhanced intervention and standard intervention groups. The secondary outcome was the decrease in MetS factors related to the change in PA.

Results: A total of 267 participants were randomly selected, 221 of whom completed the 6-month study. Among the 221 participants, 113 were allocated to the enhanced intervention group and 108 were allocated to the standard intervention group. After 6 months, the body weight and BMI for the enhanced intervention group decreased by 0.6 (SD 1.87) and 0.21 (SD 0.76), respectively (P<.001). In both groups, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, and glycated hemoglobin A_1c (HbA_1c) decreased (P<.001). The total PA was approximately 2.8 times lower in the standard intervention group (mean 44.47, SD 224.85) than in the enhanced intervention group (mean 124.36, SD 570.0). Moreover, the enhanced intervention group achieved the recommended level of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), whereas the standard intervention group did not (188 minutes/week vs 118 minutes/week). Additionally, the number of participants in the enhanced intervention group (n=113) that reached 10,000 daily steps or more after the intervention increased from 9 (8.0%) to 26 (23.1%) (P=.002), whereas this number did not increase significantly in the standard intervention group (n=108), from 8 (7.4%) to 16 (14.8%) (P=.72). The number of participants without any MetS factors increased by 12 (11%) and 8 (7%) in the enhanced and standard intervention group, respectively.

Conclusions: PA monitoring and an intervention using wearable devices were effective in preventing MetS in a rural population in Korea. Blood pressure, waist circumference, and HbA_1c were improved in both intervention groups, which were effective in reducing MetS factors. However, only the participants in the enhanced intervention group continuously increased their MVPA and step counts above the recommended level to prevent MetS. Body weight and BMI were further improved, and a higher number of participants with zero MetS factors was attained from the enhanced intervention.

Trial registration: Clinical Research Information Service KCT0005783; https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/search/detailSearch.do/16123.

Keywords: Asia; Korea; exercise; health care; intervention; mHealth; metabolic syndrome; physical activity; rural; wearable device.

Figure 1

Flowchart of study participants. PA: physical activity; IPAQ: International Physical Activity Questionnaire; MetS: metabolic syndrome.

Figure 2

Flow of intervention.