Author's personal copy Effectiveness of a web-based physical activity intervention for adults with Type 2 diabetes—A randomised controlled trial ☆ Cally A. Jennings a,b, ⁎, Corneel Vandelanotte a , Cristina M. Caperchione c , W. Kerry Mummery b a CQUniversity Australia, Institute for Health and Social Science Research, Centre for Physical Activity Studies, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia b Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada c Faculty of Health and Social Development, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada abstract article info Available online 15 December 2013 Keywords: Web-based Internet Physical activity Type 2 diabetes Intervention Randomised controlled trial Objective. This study examined the effectiveness of a fully automated web-based programme to increase physical activity in adults with Type 2 diabetes. Methods. Between May and July 2010, participants were randomly allocated into either a 12-week interven- tion (n = 195) or a control (n = 202) group. Participants were adults diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, residing in Australia. Participants were assessed at baseline, 12 and 36 weeks. The primary physical activity outcome was self-reported minutes of total physical activity. Secondary physical activity outcomes included minutes spent walking, and engaged in moderate, and vigorous physical activity. Additional measures included website satisfac- tion and website usage. The intervention consisted of a 12-week web-based physical activity intervention devel- oped based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and self-management framework. Data were analysed from 2011 to 2012. Results. There was a significant group-by-time interaction (X 2 (df = 1) = 6.37, p b .05) for total physical ac- tivity favouring the intervention group d = 0.11, for those who completed the intervention, however this was not significant in the intention-to-treat analysis d = 0.01. The intervention yielded high website satisfaction and usage. Conclusions. In general, there is some evidence for the effectiveness of web-based interventions for improving physical activity levels; however it is clear that maintaining improvements remains an issue. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction Physical inactivity is a major public health concern. High levels of physical inactivity are related to an increase in the rate of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, some forms of cancer and Type 2 diabetes (World Health Organization, 2004). Individuals diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes frequently have lower physical activity levels than the general population (Hays and Clark, 1999; Morrato et al., 2007) and increasing their physical activity signifi- cantly improves quality of life and reduces or delays the onset of physiological complications such as, reduced life expectancy, micro- vascular damage and macrovascular complications and significantly diminished quality of life or even morbidity (Healy et al., 2008; World Health Organization, 1999). Traditionally, individuals diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes would undergo face-to-face education to encourage behaviour change in areas such as physical activity in order to self-manage their condition (American Diabetes Association, 2006). Face-to-face interventions have previously proven successful for improving physical activity (Conn et al., 2011). Face-to-face education is resource and cost intensive and is often limited by geography (Marshall et al., 2004). An alternative is web-based delivery. Web-based interventions have demonstrated positive changes in short-term physical activity, however less evidence exists to support the long-term physical activity maintenance (Davies et al., 2012; Vandelanotte et al., 2007). Web-based physical activity programmes offer advantages such as being able to deliver interactive and individualised interventions to large groups (McKay et al., 2001; Vandelanotte et al., 2007). Examples of interactive features can include goal setting, updated content, instantaneous feedback, self-monitoring, chat rooms, and computer-tailoring. Web-based delivery also over- comes geographic barriers and offers the convenience of on-demand, 24 h a day accessibility (Glasgow et al., 2003). The last decade has seen an increasing number of web-based physical activity interventions (Davies et al., 2012; Norman et al., 2007; Vandelanotte et al., 2007), however, few web-based interven- tions have been designed for Type 2 diabetes and most of those are mainly focused on nutrition (Armstrong and Powell, 2008; Armstrong et al., 2007; Glasgow et al., 2003; McKay et al., 2002). Furthermore, Preventive Medicine 60 (2014) 33–40 ☆ The study is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12612000730808). ⁎ Corresponding author at: Van Vliet Centre, Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H9, Canada. E-mail address: cally1@ualberta.ca (C.A. Jennings). 0091-7435/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2013.12.011 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Preventive Medicine journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ypmed