Internet and cell phone based physical activity interventions in adults.

Objective: Physical activity interventions that address the issue of obesity are becoming common. With Internet and cell phone usage becoming increasingly popular, these interventions are beginning to adopt these new delivery methods. The purpose of the study was to systematically analyze interventions published between 2007 and 2010 that used the Internet or cell phones for promotion of physical activity among adults 21 years and older. Design: A systematic search for physical activity interventions using the Internet or cell phones was done using the CINAHL, ERIC, Google Scholar, and Medline databases independently by two researchers. Results: A total of 11 articles met the inclusion criteria. Only one study used a cell- phone based intervention. Of these 11 interventions, a majority of them were found to be effective. While all of them utilized a theoretical background, not many measured changes in the theoretical constructs. Of the ones that measured such changes most found no significant changes. In addition, practically significant differences between control and intervention groups were not found in all of the studies. Conclusion: Internet-based and cell-phone based interventions were found to have similar effectiveness as face-to-face programs. With the advances in technology these approaches will become more prevalent and future research will be needed to enhance the success of these approaches in promoting physical activity. Recommendations for future interventions are provided.