Smartphone App to Increase and Maintain Physical Activity in African American Men (FitBrothers)

Physical activity (PA) is a modifiable risk factor for a number of preventable chronic diseases, including
cardiovascular disease, strokes, obesity, and diabetes. These conditions constitute health disparities for
African American men. Behavioral interventions have proven to be effective in promoting increases in physical
activity. While behavior change programs have been shown to assist participants in sustaining behavior
change, very few programs have specifically targeted African American men. The use of mHealth, as opposed to
other avenues of intervention delivery, is based on published reports documenting that African Americans
perceive mobile technology as an acceptable means of intervention delivery. In addition, ownership of
smartphones and the use of text messaging are highest among African Americans compared to other ethnic
groups. Therefore, a mHealth intervention targeting African American men seems feasible and potentially
effective. Our preliminary data show that a PA maintenance smartphone app for African American men that
contains self-monitoring, goal-setting, reinforcement, and behavioral lessons was well received by this
population. However, the qualitative data revealed that the men believed additional components were
necessary to fully tailor the app for African American men, including personalization, chronic disease health
information, dietary information, competition, and incentives. In addition, we will tailor the intervention to
the sociocultural needs of African American men. The purpose of the Fast-Track STTR is to incorporate these
elements within an existing smartphone app. The FitBrothers app will be developed through a Phase I consisting
of (1) iterative focus groups, (2) developing a conceptual model, and (3) conducting beta testing and a Phase II
which will consist of (1) developing a full-scale FitBrothers app, (2), conducting usability testing, and (3)
conducting a comparative effectiveness trial to assess the effectiveness of the app compared to a similar, well-
known app in the marketplace. To our knowledge, no study has utilized mobile phones as a means of effecting
PA levels in African American men. FitBrothers will address an unmet need in the marketplace as it will be the
first smartphone app that is targeted toward PA adoption and maintenance in African American men. The fact
that mHealth is acceptable to- and the fact that the application will be developed in collaboration with African
American men, leads us to hypothesize that African American men will view the mHealth intervention as
acceptable, feasible, and effective. The Fast-Track STTR proposal will be led by a team that has worked together
previously and includes researchers and multimedia developers from Klein Buendel, Inc. (KB), Georgetown
University, and Pennington Biomedical Research Center.Low physical activity levels contribute to African American men experiencing health disparities across a
number of chronic diseases. Studies have been effective in increasing physical activity levels in African
American men; but few have targeted maintenance of behavior change and none have utilized emerging
technologies. The purpose of the current study is to further develop a mobile phone application for African
American men that will help them initiate and maintain their physical activity levels.