Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2023 May 1;55(5):856-864.
doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003114. Epub 2022 Dec 28.

Identifying Predictors of Adherence to the Physical Activity Goal: A Secondary Analysis of the SMARTER Weight Loss Trial

Zhadyra Bizhanova  1 , Susan M Sereika, Maria M Brooks  1 , Bonny Rockette-Wagner  1 , Jacob K Kariuki  2 , Lora E Burke
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Identifying Predictors of Adherence to the Physical Activity Goal: A Secondary Analysis of the SMARTER Weight Loss Trial

Zhadyra Bizhanova et al. Med Sci Sports Exerc. .

Abstract

Introduction/purpose: Research is needed to inform tailoring supportive strategies for promoting physical activity (PA) in the context of behavioral treatment of obesity. We aimed to identify baseline participant characteristics and short-term intervention response predictors associated with adherence to the study-defined PA goal in a mobile health (mHealth) weight loss trial.

Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted of a 12-month weight loss trial (SMARTER) that randomized 502 adults with overweight or obesity to either self-monitoring of diet, PA, and weight with tailored feedback messages ( n = 251) or self-monitoring alone ( n = 251). The primary outcome was average adherence to the PA goal of ≥150 min·wk -1 of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activities (MVPA) from Fitbit Charge 2™ trackers over 52 wk. Twenty-five explanatory variables were considered. Machine learning methods and linear regression were used to identify predictors of adherence to the PA goal.

Results: The sample ( N = 502) was mostly female (80%), White (82%) with the average age of 45 ± 14.4 yr and body mass index of 33.7 ± 4.0 kg·m -2 . Machine learning methods identified PA goal adherence for the first week as the most important predictor of long-term PA goal adherence. In the parsimonious linear regression model, higher PA goal adherence for the first week, greater PA FB messages opened, older age, being male, higher education, being single and not having obstructive sleep apnea were associated with higher long-term PA goal adherence.

Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study using machine learning approaches to identify predictors of long-term PA goal adherence in a mHealth weight loss trial. Future studies focusing on facilitators or barriers to PA among young and middle-age adults and women with low PA goal adherence are warranted.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03367936.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no disclosures. The results of this study are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation. The results of the present study do not constitute endorsement by the American College of Sports Medicine.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Variable importance from random forest regression
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Variable importance from regression trees
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Variable importance from LASSO regression
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Median weekly percentages of adherence to the PA goal over 52 weeks by treatment
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hales CM, Carroll MD, Fryar CD, Ogden CL. Prevalence of obesity and severe obesity among adults: United States, 2017–2018. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics; 2020. - PubMed
    1. Colditz GA, Willett WC, Rotnitzky A, Manson JE. Weight gain as a risk factor for clinical diabetes mellitus in women. Ann Intern Med. 1995;122(7):481–6. - PubMed
    1. Bogers RP, Bemelmans WJ, Hoogenveen RT. Association of overweight with increased risk of coronary heart disease partly independent of blood pressure and cholesterol levels: a meta-analysis of 21 cohort studies including more than 300 000 persons. Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(16):1720–8. - PubMed
    1. National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults: the evidence report. National Institutes of Health. Obes Res. 1998;6 Suppl 2:51s–209s. - PubMed
    1. Curry SJ, Krist AH, Owens DK. Behavioral weight loss interventions to prevent obesity-related morbidity and mortality in adults: US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. JAMA. 2018;320(11):1163–71. - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data