Rural–Urban Differences in Physical Activity Tracking and Engagement in a Web-Based Platform.
Objectives: Despite the well-established health benefits of regular participation in physical activity, most adults do not meet recommended exercise guidelines. In rural communities, limited local resources and geographic dispersion make engaging in regular activity particularly difficult. Web-based...
| Published in: | Public Health Reports Vol. 138; no. 1; pp. 76 - 85 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Sage Publications Inc.
Jan2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=160647188&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 160647188 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00333549 PHR jtl: Public Health Reports issn: 00333549 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Jan2023 vid: 138 iid: 1 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. artinfo: ui: 160647188 10.1177/00333549211065522 ppf: 76 ppct: 9 formats: tig: atl: Rural–Urban Differences in Physical Activity Tracking and Engagement in a Web-Based Platform. aug: au: Pickett, Andrew C. Bowie, Maria Berg, Alison Towne Jr, Samuel D. Hollifield, Stephanie Smith, Matthew Lee affil: Division of Kinesiology & Sport Management, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, USA School of Education Research Center, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, USA Office of the Associate Dean, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA Department of Nutritional Sciences, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA School of Global Health Management and Informatics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA Disability, Aging, and Technology Cluster, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Southwest Rural Health Research Center, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Center for Population Health and Aging, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Southwest District Extension, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA, USA su: Patient participation Social support Rural conditions Population geography Metropolitan areas World Wide Web Application software Physical activity T-test (Statistics) Descriptive statistics Exercise intensity sug: subj: Patient participation Social support Rural conditions Population geography Metropolitan areas World Wide Web Software Publishers Software publishers (except video game publishers) Custom Computer Programming Services Internet Publishing and Broadcasting and Web Search Portals Other Individual and Family Services Application software Physical activity T-test (Statistics) Descriptive statistics Exercise intensity keyword: exercise health disparities health promotion technology exercise health disparities health promotion technology ab: Objectives: Despite the well-established health benefits of regular participation in physical activity, most adults do not meet recommended exercise guidelines. In rural communities, limited local resources and geographic dispersion make engaging in regular activity particularly difficult. Web-based solutions offer a potential solution for addressing physical activity disparities between rural and urban areas. Methods: This study examined the physical activity logs of users (n = 6695) of a web-based platform called Walk Georgia, comparing residents of metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. We tabulated descriptive statistics for variables of interest, cross-tabulated for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan groups. We then used independent-samples t tests to compare logged activity between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan residing user groups. Results: In the analysis of group type (n = 6654), users were more likely to enroll in the program as part of a group than as individuals (n = 4391; 65.9%), particularly for users in metropolitan areas (3558 of 5192; 68.5%). Although the groups shared certain activities, nonmetropolitan residents were more likely than metropolitan residents to engage in maintenance-based activities. Nonmetropolitan residents earned fewer program points for their activity than metropolitan users (P =.007), largely because of lower average exercise difficulty (P <.001). Conclusions: The web-based platform was effective in helping individuals track physical activity. Despite engaging in similar amounts of physical activity by time, on average, users in nonmetropolitan areas engaged in less rigorous and more maintenance-based tasks than users in metropolitan areas. One strategy for increasing physical activity among rural populations may be to leverage social support provided by group enrollment in such programming. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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