Supporting physical activity adoption through recommender system technology: A pilot study

Abstract
We tested the potential for recommender system technology to provide personalized physical activity (PA) suggestions for inactive young adults with high bodyweight. We developed a recommender system using data from the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and assessed interest in using the system among 47 young adults (mean age = 23.0 years; 63.4% female; 65.0% White; mean BMI = 29.4). Eleven of these participants (mean age = 23.6 years; 90.9% female, 63.6% White; average BMI = 28.5) also received a PA recommendation and a follow-up interview. Approximately half of the survey participants were willing to use the recommender system, and participants interested in the recommender system differed from those unwilling to try the system (e.g., more likely to be female, worse self-perceived health). Furthermore, eight of the 11 interviewees tried the PA recommended to them, but had mixed reviews of the system’s accuracy. Although our recommender system requires improvements, such systems have promise for supporting PA adoption.
Description
Agans JP, Ma F, Schade S, Sciamanna C. Supporting physical activity adoption through recommender system technology: A pilot study. Journal of Health Psychology. 2024;0(0). doi:10.1177/13591053241242541 was originally published in the Journal of Health Psychology. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053241242541. © The Author(s) 2024, Article Reuse Guidelines https://sagepub.com/journals-permissions
Keywords
adult, efficacy, intervention, overweight, physical activity, qualitative method, quantitative method, good health and well-being, industry, innovation, and infrastructure
Citation
Agans JP, Ma F, Schade S, Sciamanna C. Supporting physical activity adoption through recommender system technology: A pilot study. Journal of Health Psychology. 2024;0(0). doi:10.1177/13591053241242541