Getting Fit With Your Smartphone: An Application-Based Program for Nursing Students

Abstract

Regular physical activity (PA) has been shown to reduce morbidity and lengthen life span (Blair, Sallis, & Archer, 2012). PA participation reduces fatigue, improves concentration, reduces stress, and enhances overall mental health (ADAA, 2012). Regular PA has also has been shown to reduce stress levels of nursing students (Chipas, Cordrey, Floyd, Grubbs, Miller, et al., 2012). Smartphones are revolutionizing healthcare, playing a part in both disease management and prevention. Smartphone fitness applications use GPS capabilities to record and log workout data including distance, duration, pace, and calories burned. This project was an exploratory study undertaken to evaluate the feasibility and usability of a cell phone motivational program in increasing PA participation and reducing stress of nursing students. Participants from the undergraduate nursing program at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa (N=73) utilized smartphone fitness applications for a one-month time period. Changes in PA (!!=148.33, !"!=155.03; !!=145.56, !"!=156.93), TV watching (!!=3.52, !"!=2.15; !!=3.96, !"!=2.56), perceived stress (!!=3.00, !"!=0.72; !!=2.87, !"!=0.59), PA stage of change (!!=3.26, !"!=1.05; !!=2.80, !"!=1.14), PA self-efficacy (!!=3.81, !"!=1.21; !!=3.57, !"!=1.16), PA intention (!!=3.65, !"!=1.07; !!=3.19, !"!=1.20), PA attitude (!!=4.24, !"!=0.85; !!=4.19, !" =0.91), and PA subjective norms (!!=3.78, !"!=1.23; !!=3.94, !"!=0.94), were explored. No difference was shown between pre and post-intervention variables (p>0.05). Correlational findings are consistent with that of the Theory of Planned Behavior (Azjen, 1991). Compared to previous literature, nursing students enrolled in the study were already participating in regular PA, and did not have high levels of perceived stress. Future research on the use of such devices for more high-risk populations is recommended.