Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an m-Health intervention targeting physical activity, diet, and sleep quality in shift-workers

Poor health behaviors are prevalent in shift-workers, but few multiple health-behavior interventions consider their unique needs. This study aimed to (1) evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an existing app-based intervention to improve physical activity, diet, and sleep quality in a shift-worker population, (2) estimate intervention effect in a four-week pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) (ACTRN12618001785291). Shift-workers (18–65 years old) were randomized to intervention (n = 20) or wait-list (n = 20) groups. Outcomes included recruitment, engagement, attrition, usefulness ratings, System Usability Scale (SUS), qualitative interviews, and estimation of treatment effect (minutes of physical activity, diet quality, and sleep quality) using mixed model analysis. Recruitment took one week. App-use at week four was 55% (11/20), 85% (34/40) completed the four-week follow-up questionnaire, and 20% (4/20) of the intervention group completed the qualitative interview. The intervention was rated as slightly to moderately useful by 76.9% (10/13) of participants on a five-point scale. The SUS score was 62.7 (12.7) out of 100. Diet quality improved for the intervention (4.5 points; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.1, 8.9; p = 0.047) vs. the wait-list group, but not physical activity or sleep quality. Qualitative interviews found that a more tailored intervention, more accessible information, and interactive features were desired. The intervention was feasible in terms of recruitment, but modifications to increase engagement are needed.