Examining the Feasibility of Smartphone Game Applications for Physical Activity Promotion in Middle School Students.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility (i.e., limited efficacy testing, practicality, and acceptability) of a 6-week smartphone game-based applications program for promoting physical activity (PA) in adolescents in an afterschool program.


METHODS
This mixed-method, quasi-experimental design study included 27 adolescents who evaluated four smartphone PA game-based applications in two Boys & Girls Clubs of America. After an initial baseline week (i.e., usual activity during their visit to the Club), adolescents played each game for 1 week. During a final week, the participants could choose to play any combination of the four games. An established conceptual framework was used to assess feasibility. Efficacy was assessed by changes in PA via wrist-worn accelerometers (model GT3x+; ActiGraph LLC, Pensacola, FL). Practicality was measured through field notes, the number of players attending each session, and the proportion of attendees who played the games. Acceptability was measured using poststudy focus groups.


RESULTS
Compared with baseline (3.22 metabolic equivalents [METs]), mean accelerometer values were significantly (P<0.05) higher during "Space Rayders" (4.33 METs) and "Color Hunt" (3.67 METs). Attendance did not differ among games, and weekly number of players averaged 12 of 27 participants. Qualitative findings indicated that participants perceived "Space Rayders" as the most acceptable game. Overall, participants found the games to be enjoyable and easy to use, although they had suggestions to improve graphics and sounds.


CONCLUSIONS
Smartphone games can be feasible for adolescents to use for PA. Lessons learned will be used to provide improvements for future game development and evaluation.
1 Department of Preventive Medicine, Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine , Los Angeles, California.|2 Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, Virginia.
Kacie C A
KC
Blackman
2 Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, Virginia.|6 Fralin Translational Obesity Research Center , Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Jamie
J
Zoellner
3 Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, Virginia.
Adil
A
Kadir
3 Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, Virginia.
Brandon
B
Dockery
2 Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, Virginia.|6 Fralin Translational Obesity Research Center , Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Sallie Beth
SB
Johnson
2 Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, Virginia.|6 Fralin Translational Obesity Research Center , Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Fabio A
FA
Almeida
3 Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, Virginia.
D Scott
DS
McCrickard
2 Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, Virginia.|6 Fralin Translational Obesity Research Center , Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Jennie L
JL
Hill
4 Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, Virginia.
Wen
W
You
2 Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, Virginia.|5 Department of Family and Community Medicine, Virginia Tech Carilion Medical School , Roanoke, Virginia.|6 Fralin Translational Obesity Research Center , Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Paul A
PA
Estabrooks
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063731:Mobile Applications; D000068997:Smartphone; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018910:Video Games; D014768:Virginia