Examining the Impact of an mHealth App on Functional Movement and Physical Fitness: A Pilot Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

Abstract

Thousands of mobile apps available for download are geared towards health and fitness, yet limited research has evaluated the real-world effectiveness of such apps. The movr app is an mHealth app designed to enhance physical functioning by prescribing functional movement training based on individualized movement assessments. movr’s influence on functional movement and physical fitness (flexibility, strength, and cardiovascular fitness) has not yet been established empirically.

To examine the real-world impact of movr on functional movement, flexibility, strength, and cardiovascular fitness.

Forty-eight healthy adults (24 women, 24 men; 24 ± 5 years) completed an 8-week pilot pragmatic randomized controlled trial whereby they were randomly assigned to either 8 weeks of use of the movr app (n = 24) or 8 weeks waitlist control (n = 24). Measures of functional movement (Functional Movement ScreenTM; FMS), strength (push-ups, handgrip strength, countermovement jump), flexibility (shoulder flexibility, sit and reach, active straight-leg raise, half-kneeling dorsiflexion), and cardiovascular fitness (V̇O2max) were collected at baseline and 8-week follow-up.

Repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed significant group by time interactions for the 100-point FMS, shoulder flexibility, active straight-leg raise, half-kneeling dorsiflexion, and push-up tests (Ps < .05), such that pre- to post-intervention improvements were found in the movr group (Ps < .05), but not in the control group (Ps > .05). There were no changes in the sit and reach or handgrip strength test scores for either group (Ps > .05). A significant main effect of time was found for countermovement jump (P = .02), such that scores decreased pre- to post-intervention in the control group (P = .02), but not in the movr group (P = .38). Finally, a significant group by time interaction was found for V̇O2max (P = .001), revealing that scores decreased pre- to post-intervention in the control group (P < .001), but not in the movr group (P = .54).

The findings revealed that movr improved indices of functional movement (FMS), flexibility (shoulder, active straight-leg raise, dorsiflexion), and muscular endurance (push-ups) over an 8-week period compared to a control group, while maintaining handgrip strength, lower body power (countermovement jump), and cardiovascular fitness (V̇O2max). As such, this study provides initial evidence of the effectiveness of the movr app for enhancing functional movement and physical fitness among healthy adults.

Due to the pilot objectives of this pragmatic study, it was not registered in a trial registry. However, this project was part of a Mitacs Accelerate Internship and, as such, the study proposal was required to undergo a blinded, peer-reviewed process prior to study commencement. Data collection did not begin until the study protocol was fully approved following the peer-review process.