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Emerging Technology in Promoting Physical Activity

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Exercise and Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 4510

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Interests: fitness; innovative and technology-enhanced physical activity interventions; wearable technology; determinants of developing physically active habits; impact of physical activities on physical and psychosocial health and brain cognitions; real-time physical activity; fitbits
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
Interests: physical fitness; physical activity assessment; body composition; physical education; motor skills; sports science; exercise science; exercise motivation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physical Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Interests: examining the relationship between physical activity and positive psychological well-being; developing theory- and evidence-based physical activity interventions for various populations; investigating the effect of physical activity on cognitive functions and academic performance in children; incorporating wearable technology and data science in promoting physical activity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Utilization of emerging technology in promoting engagement of physical activity among people across their life span has been widely explored in both clinical and practical settings. However, most youth, college students, adults, and older adults do not engage in the recommended daily PA. The prevalence of obesity and mental health problems have recently exacerbated partly due to increased sedentary lifestyles amid the pandemic. Thus, exploring innovative approaches to using emerging technologies (e.g., web-based exercise, exergaming, virtual reality technology, and wearable technologies) in promoting physical activity among people across the lifespan is of great interest in public health.

This Special Issue invites investigators to examine

  1. barriers and facilitators to the use of emerging technologies as intervention implementation strategies for promoting physical activity for a targeted population;
  2. immediate, short-term, and/or long-term effectiveness of technology-integrated physical activity interventions in increasing and/or sustaining physical activity behaviors for people across the lifespan;
  3. the extent to which a technology-enhanced physical activity intervention is feasible, acceptable, doable, and/or sustainable for a targeted population; and
  4. factors impacting participants’ adoptions, implementation, and/or maintenance of a technology-integrated physical activity in their daily routines.

It is worth noting that investigations will not be limited to the potential focuses described above. 

Dr. Weiyun Chen
Dr. You Fu
Dr. Zhanjia Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • web-based exercise
  • exergaming
  • wearing technology
  • social media
  • emerging technology
  • physical activity

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1169 KiB  
Article
Adjustable Parameters and the Effectiveness of Adjunct Robot-Assisted Gait Training in Individuals with Chronic Stroke
by Shih-Ching Chen, Jiunn-Horng Kang, Chih-Wei Peng, Chih-Chao Hsu, Yen-Nung Lin and Chien-Hung Lai
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(13), 8186; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19138186 - 4 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1872
Abstract
The aims of this study were (1) to compare the effect of robot-assisted gait orthosis (RAGO) plus conventional physiotherapy with the effect of conventional therapy alone on functional outcomes, including balance, walking ability, muscle strength, daily activity, and cognition, in chronic stroke patients, [...] Read more.
The aims of this study were (1) to compare the effect of robot-assisted gait orthosis (RAGO) plus conventional physiotherapy with the effect of conventional therapy alone on functional outcomes, including balance, walking ability, muscle strength, daily activity, and cognition, in chronic stroke patients, and (2) to determine the association of adjustable parameters of RAGO on functional outcomes. Adjustable parameters of RAGO included guidance force, treadmill speed, and body-weight support. This retrospective cohort study enrolled 32 patients with chronic stroke. Of these, 16 patients received RAGO plus conventional physiotherapy (RAGO group), and 16 patients received conventional physiotherapy alone (control group). Balance was assessed using the Berg Balance Scale, walking ability using the Functional Ambulation Category, muscle strength using the Motricity Index, daily activity using the Barthel Index, and cognition using the Mini-Mental State Examination. The scores were assessed before and after training. The Mini–Mental State Examination and the Berg Balance Scale increased significantly in both groups, whereas improvements in the Motricity Index and the Barthel Index were only observed in the RAGO group after intervention. During RAGO training, reducing guidance force and body-weight support assistance was associated with improvements in the Barthel Index, whereas higher treadmill walking speed was associated with improvements in the Berg Balance Scale. Our study found that RAGO combination therapy resulted in improvements in more functional outcomes than did conventional training alone. The adjustable parameters of the RAGO training were partly associated with training outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Technology in Promoting Physical Activity)
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12 pages, 343 KiB  
Article
Technology-Enhanced 4Active Intervention Impacting Psychological Well-Being and Physical Activity among Older Adults: A Pilot Study
by Weiyun Chen, Zhanjia Zhang, Bruno Giordani and Janet L. Larson
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(1), 556; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010556 - 4 Jan 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2085
Abstract
Background: To increase psychological well-being and physical activity (PA) behaviors, our pilot study used the social ecological model as the framework to design the 4Active intervention, focusing on multicomponent exercise group lessons at the interpersonal level and self exercise enhanced by activity trackers [...] Read more.
Background: To increase psychological well-being and physical activity (PA) behaviors, our pilot study used the social ecological model as the framework to design the 4Active intervention, focusing on multicomponent exercise group lessons at the interpersonal level and self exercise enhanced by activity trackers at the individual level. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the effectiveness of the two-level 4Active intervention in improving psychological well-being and PA participation in older adults living in retirement communities. Methods: Participants were 27 older adults with a mean age of 85.9 ± 9.3 years. Based on the two-arm, quasi-experimental study design, fourteen older adults (2 men, 12 women) living in one retirement community (RC) were assigned into the intervention group receiving the two-level 4Active intervention, whereas 13 older adults (1 man, 12 women) living in another RC were allocated to the active control group receiving group exercise intervention alone for eight weeks. One week before and after the interventions, the participants were pre-tested and post-tested in psychological well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, subjective happiness, positive affect, and negative affect) and weekly PA minutes (i.e., weekly walking, vigorous, moderate, and total PA minutes). The data were analyzed be means of descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, and ANCOVA repeated measures. Results: The results of ANCOVA repeated measures indicated that both groups maintained their slightly high or very high levels of life satisfaction, happiness, and positive affect over times. However, the two-level 4Active intervention group showed significant decreases in negative affect (F = 4.78, p = 0.04, η2 = 0.23) and significance increases in weekly moderate PA (F = 10.355, p = 0.004, η2 = 0.310) compared with the active control group over time. Conclusion: It is concluded that engaging in the two-level 4Active intervention including group-based multicomponent exercises and technology-enhanced self-exercises is more effective in decreasing negative affect and increasing weekly moderate PA METS-min in physically and cognitively frail older adults over time, compared with attending the group exercises alone. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Technology in Promoting Physical Activity)
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