WALK 2.0 - Using Web 2.0 applications to promote health-related physical activity: A randomised controlled trial protocol

Gregory S Kolt, Richard R Rosenkranz, Trevor N Savage, Anthony J Maeder, Corneel Vandelanotte, Mitch J Duncan, Cristina M Caperchione, Rhys Tague, Cindy Hooker, W Kerry Mummery

Physical inactivity is one of the leading modifiable causes of death and disease in Australia. National surveys indicate less than half of the Australian adult population are sufficiently active to obtain health benefits. The Internet is a potentially important medium for successfully communicating health messages to the general population and enabling individual behaviour change. Internet-based interventions have proven efficacy; however, intervention studies describing website usage objectively have reported a strong decline in usage, and high attrition rate, over the course of the interventions. Web 2.0 applications give users control over web content generated and present innovative possibilities to improve user engagement. There is, however, a need to assess the effectiveness of these applications in the general population. The Walk 2.0 project is a 3-arm randomised controlled trial investigating the effects of "next generation" web-based applications on engagement, retention, and subsequent physical activity behaviour change.